The Place Beyond Read online

  Matt nodded. “I know the type. I’ve been the new kid a few times.”

  Dave got a sudden glint in his eye. “Really? What do your parents do?”

  Matt silently cursed himself. He’d managed to last a whole minute, and then he’d stumbled into the one place he knew he shouldn’t go. Well, nothing for it now. If he lied, it would just make things worse later on. He took a breath, cherished his last moments of good terms with Dave, and said, “They write for Unknowns.”

  Dave paused for a second, during which Matt’s stomach twisted into a granny knot. There was a faraway look in his eyes that Matt found impossible to read. Then he smiled and said, “Really? I recognized the last name but I didn’t think … I love their stuff!”

  Matt blinked. Whatever he’d been expecting, that wasn’t it. This was now officially the weirdest thing that had ever happened to him, and considering his parents’ jobs, that was saying something. “Are you sure?” he croaked.

  “Are you kidding? I mean, I don’t really believe any of that stuff, but the way they write … well, it makes me want to believe it, is the only way I can think to say it. They just put so much energy into those articles, you get excited reading them, you know?”

  That was certainly a way of looking at the family business that had never occurred to Matt. But he wasn’t going to question his good fortune. Besides, a way to take advantage of Dave’s interest had just occurred to him. “If that’s the case, would you like to meet them?”

  * * *

  On the bus ride home, Matt was sitting alone as usual when Dave dropped in next to him. “I called my father. He said it was fine for me to visit, just for a few minutes. I mean, you’ll be here for a while, right? So no rush.”

  Matt struggled a bit with how to respond. Somehow “Good” or even “Great” didn’t quite seem to cover his feelings. But he still ended up going with the latter when he felt the gap in the conversation widening. Dave smiled, so he guessed he’d done all right. For now, they had a little more time to talk, and now that Matt thought about it, there was something he had wanted to know, but had forgotten to ask in the wake of making an actual friend. “How did you scare those guys off, anyway?”

  Dave held up a fist. “I’ve been taking martial arts lessons since I was a kid. I only got here myself during the summer, and while I was out jogging I passed a field where some of the football team was practicing. I stopped to say hi, and Jonathan went into that same routine. I … corrected him.”

  Matt guessed he must have looked shocked, because Dave quickly continued, “Oh, I didn’t hurt him. I didn’t even touch him. Just a little Kubrick stare, not backing down, and he got the idea. Guys like that, usually their size is all they’ve got. If they find someone who can actually stand up to them, they back down quick enough.”

  The bus reached Matt’s stop, and they piled off. Matt’s house was a very short walk away, which he had groaned at that morning, seeing it as just less space between him and the usual torments. But now he saw it quite differently. Suddenly he was excited to show off his house, and see what Dave thought. Then he realized something. “Uh, this is a bit awkward, but I kind of didn’t tell them you were coming. This sort of thing doesn’t usually happen to me, so I guess I’m rusty on the procedure.”

  Dave wasn’t fazed. “No problem. I’ll just wait out here while you tell them. Given what I’ve seen of their stuff, I don’t think they’re the type to have an issue with it. Do you?”

  Matt shook his head with a grin, and headed inside. He found his parents in their office. They both waved to him as soon as they saw him.

  “So, how was it?” his father asked, managing to sound just as enthusiastic about the question as ever, no matter how many times Matt had given the same rote answer.

  His mother kept typing away, but Matt knew she was still listening. She had an uncanny ability to stay focused on both her work and any conversation she was in.

  Matt smiled. “Actually, I made a friend.”

  This got his mother’s attention. She spun to face him with about the biggest smile he’d ever seen from her. “Well, you see? I kept telling you that people would want to be your friend if you just let them. Who could resist?” she said, giving him a look that told him she didn’t see him at all the way he saw himself. “So, what’s his name? Or is it her?” Her face took on a distinctly hopeful expression at the last part.

  Matt pretended he didn’t notice; thus far he’d never been out with a girl, and he was beginning to think his mother was growing impatient with his lack of romantic success. For Matt though, it wasn’t really an issue next to the misery his daily existence had been until now, but it was still a subject he was uncomfortable broaching with them.

  “His,” he said. “Dave. And it was actually thanks to you. Seems he’s a big fan.”

  That got his father going. “Well, how about that? We’d love to meet him.”

  Matt felt rather shy suddenly. Then he remembered Dave’s own words on the subject and found a new confidence, allowing him to plow ahead. “Yeah, about that …”

  * * *

  Luckily, they were happy to talk to their fan right then. Coming through the front door, Dave’s eyes glazed over in sheer bliss for a second, and it was very strange for Matt to realize that this reaction was entirely due to his mom and dad. If he’d ever given their pseudo-celebrity status any thought before, the idea of people having this kind of reaction had never come into it.

  “I love your work so much!” Dave said, as soon as he got his glee under control. “I’ve been buying every issue just to see your articles!”

  Steve and Amy, for their part, seemed rather nonplussed by this at first. “Well … always nice to meet someone who appreciates what we do,” his father said.

  His mother awkwardly picked up the thread. “It doesn’t happen often, really.” And with that, Matt had a startling insight: this situation was actually just as unusual for them as for him. He suddenly found himself wondering what was it actually like, knowing so many people were laughing at you every day? Maybe he owed them both an apology for resenting their moving around so much, even if he’d never actually voiced those feelings out loud.

  The conversation had continued while he thought this over. Dave was now saying, “Well, I’d better go now. My dad was pretty cool about letting me come over here, but he wanted me back as soon as possible.”

  “Oh, it was wonderful to see you,” his mom said. “I’m so glad Matt has a friend like you.”

  Dave smiled. “It’s mutual, believe me. Besides, I know what it’s like to be the new kid. Glad to help.”

  The furthest thing from Matt’s mind was wondering what Dave actually meant by that. Not that things could have turned out much differently if he had.

  Chapter Two

  Jane Watson didn’t let the fact that she only had brothers influence her lifestyle. As much as they had teased her growing up, she liked being girly, and being feminine soon became a point of pride with her. While her older brother, Paul and the younger ones, Jeremy and Alex had spent their time being, well, little boys, she had spent her childhood dreaming of pretty dresses and the right boy to give her heart to. And oh, was it fun to watch them all squirm when she talked about those things. It hadn’t all been fun, though, and at around ten years old she had briefly let them get to her and went through a more boyish phase, during which she’d prowled around the woods with them, playing war games or whatever else they wanted. Her desire for them to accept her had been so strong, she really had tried her hardest to like it, but it hadn’t taken long for her to realize this wasn’t her, and to reclaim her pride in her own identity.

  Now, she had a new subject of interest. Dave Polsik was handsome, and nice, at least as far as she’d been able to tell without actually going up and talking to him, which she still hadn’t quite worked up the nerve for. She’d even managed to catch him teaching a lesson to that jerk from the football team, in a very impressive display of physical ability that might
translate well to … other things. She wished that sort of idea didn’t come so easily to mind lately, it always made her blush and she was sure her mother, at least, knew exactly what was on her mind whenever it happened.

  Sally Watson was a housewife. She wasn’t embarrassed by this at all, despite having been looked down on by some of her so-called friends early in her marriage. When Jane was growing up, her mother had made sure she didn’t feel any shame about it either. It didn’t reflect at all on what she thought was right for other women. It was simply a choice she had made, and if others couldn’t accept it, that was their problem. Jane wasn’t quite sure she would make the same choice when the time came, but the lesson had certainly stuck.

  Recently, Dave had started hanging out with another boy, a new kid whose name she hadn’t caught. She was quite glad of this, as having an extra person there would make her feel a lot less awkward about approaching him. Now she just needed to wait for the right moment … except it had been a month since her interest had first been piqued and the time never seemed to come. Of course, Jane was no fool, and knew that a good opportunity had probably come and gone on several occasions already. It was just her own shyness that was keeping her away. And worse, the longer it went on, the more awkward she would feel, until finally, she would just give up altogether. Her mother had cautioned her about this very thing, having gone through it a few times herself.

  It wasn’t even as if she didn’t have much to offer. She liked to think she was attractive: after all, many people had told her so. And she didn’t look down on anyone; another lesson her mother had made sure to impress upon her was that everyone secretly hated those types of girls. She had never come out and said so, but Jane had got the sense she was speaking from personal experience and was making sure her daughter didn’t end up the same way. Jane sighed, turning this round and round in her head was not helping. There was only one way to solve the problem, and now she was finally going to do it.

  Class had just let out, and ahead of her she saw Dave and his friend, deep in conversation as usual. Well, there was really no use pretending the situation was anything other than what it was; either she took a chance or played safe and spent the rest of her life wondering “what if.” She closed her eyes, took a breath, and marched over to them. She’d given some thought to what she would say and had come up with several promising possibilities but in the moment they all flew out of her head and instead she just said, “Hey, you guys.”

  The two of them turned to look at her and, for a second or two, the silence stretched while Jane fought back the urge to run home and hide. She couldn’t believe it was starting to go wrong already.

  The other boy spoke first. “H-hello.”

  He seemed just as nervous as she was. The notion helped ease her own panic.

  She didn’t want to seem rude, so she kept her eyes on him and said, “So, what are you talking about?” And the second the words left her mouth, she immediately started berating herself. She was just coming off as an idiot! To her relief, Dave swooped in to rescue the conversation.

  “I’m Dave, this is Matt.” He looked to Matt, who gave him a nod like he was giving permission. “He’s had some problems with bullies, so I’ve been trying to help.”

  Jane could have kissed him right there. An actual topic that she could discuss, without coming off like some creepy stalker. Which, she supposed, in some sense, she was, but too late to worry about it now! “Oh. I’ve found it’s best just to stay away from where they hang out, myself.”

  Matt shook his head. “Not these guys. They smelled blood in the water and now they’ll be looking for me. Especially when I’m on my own. So, why are you interested, anyway?”

  And she’d hit a brick wall again. She couldn’t just tell Dave that she was interested in him. How awkward would that be? Especially with Matt standing right there. Why had she thought an extra person would make this easier anyway? Suddenly she realized that the pause in the conversation had gone on way too long. “Um, well, you just seem like nice guys to talk to?” she said, so overcome with embarrassment she had to look away. Even with her lack of experience in this kind of situation she knew she had just made a big mistake: never give the impression you’re only talking to someone because you’re bored! That wasn’t even the case at all, so why had she made it sound as if it was!

  Behind her she heard Dave say, “Well, thank you.”

  The words took a little while to sink in. He wasn’t offended? She hadn’t blown it? And indeed she turned around to find they were both smiling at her. Having overcome that first hurdle, she found her confidence increasing just a bit. She didn’t have much more to say about the bully problem but then they turned to discussing the local legends, and she found herself on much firmer ground.

  Having lived in Berkland all her life, she had grown up surrounded by the area’s quirkier elements, and as a kid she had loved it all. She had believed in ghosts, devils, aliens; anything that would make the world seem a bit more special. Of course, this was just another opportunity for her brothers to tease her, and that did get under her skin a little. Couldn’t they just let her have this one thing? So she was very happy to find other people she could talk to about it.

  It started with Dave bringing up the explosions from the woods, a phenomenon which had been going on for decades, with no known cause, and which had been unusually frequent over the last week. Jane leaped on the topic. “Oh, I’m definitely thinking other dimensions. Something occupying the same space as us is doing something big enough that we’re hearing it in this world.”

  Dave’s reaction wasn’t quite what she expected. There was none of the skepticism she’d seen on so many faces when she’d tried talking about this stuff in the past, and indeed, as she now saw from Matt.

  “That’s actually one I hadn’t considered before. I like it.”

  Jane beamed.

  “Wait,” Matt cut in. “So all this other stuff you don’t buy at all, but now, suddenly, you’re into this?”

  Dave shrugged. “It’s certainly got more going for it than some other theories I’ve heard. Talk to your parents – I’m sure they could make some good use out of it. Maybe name Jane as a source.”

  From there came the discovery that Matt’s parents were writers for a magazine that even people like Jane tended to look down on for being ridiculous. But she didn’t say anything about that, because there was no way she was sabotaging her in with these guys now. Instead she just nodded along and interjected the occasional, “Really.” It was a big relief when it became clear that neither of them thought much of the stories either and she could relax and just be herself again.

  After a while, the talk turned to more personal stuff, the most interesting part being when Dave said, “Well, I never knew my mother. She died giving birth to me. My dad’s never remarried. And whenever I tell anyone that, they get all sad and mushy about how it must tear me up inside, but, honestly, it doesn’t. I never knew her.”

  From his tone, he clearly found that reaction very annoying, so Jane didn’t push it. Still, this information roused something she liked to call a maternal instinct, and she became more interested in him than ever.

  Then came something a bit odd as Dave abruptly returned to the subject of those sounds in the woods.

  “You really think it goes to another dimension, huh? Why don’t we try to find out?”

  Jane and Matt were taken quite off guard, but both agreed, and Dave simply grinned and the conversation returned to where they’d left off.

  * * *

  That night, Jane started thinking about Dave’s proposal to investigate the sounds. The more she thought about it, the more interested she became. She didn’t have any clothes suitable for going into the woods of course, but she was sure she could pester one of her brothers to let her borrow something. And if they found some secluded, romantic spot, well, who knew what could happen?

  Except Dave didn’t come to school the next day. Jane was able to talk to Matt, at l
east, and while neither knew what was going on, she was sure it was nothing to worry about. But then he didn’t appear the next day. By now she was getting concerned but Matt brushed it off. “I’m sure if it was something serious he’d get in touch with us and let us know.”

  Jane suspected he was putting on a brave face for her benefit, and was grateful for it.

  Then something happened that made the truth impossible to ignore. When she got home from school, her mother greeted her with an expression like she had half-expected never to see her again. “The school’s put out a bulletin online,” she told her, worry plain in her face. “Dave’s missing.”

  Jane had spoken to her mother about her crush, so she understood her thinking she might have gone missing, too. Then the full weight of what her mother had said hit her. “W-what do you mean – missing?”

  Her mother grasped both of Jane’s hands, bringing them up to her chest. “They’re not saying much, Jane. All it says online is that they sent someone to his house. Both him and his father are gone.”

  Jane pulled her hands free, all she could think about was getting online and seeing for herself – maybe there was more news now.

  Her mother read her easily. “I’ve just looked, there’s no more news yet. Give it an hour or two and we’ll check again.”

  Chapter Three

  “When was the last time you saw him?”

  “Did you see him doing anything unusual?”

  “Was he with any suspicious people?”

  The questions were being asked of everyone, and no one seemed to be giving any helpful information. Some of the Berkland High students were even starting to talk about how whatever happened to be lurking in the woods that week had eaten him. As far as Jim Serris was concerned, this was one more reason he couldn’t wait to get away from the town. This whole collection of weirdos had done nothing but annoy him while he was growing up. He’d never bought into any of that crazy stuff, even as a kid. Oh, his parents had tried to get him invested, telling him to have some imagination, but he was proud of how early he’d picked up on what crap it all was, and he refused to apologize for it. Maybe he hadn’t been like a regular kid, whatever that was, but from his experience that wasn’t much of a loss.