Into the Beyond Books 1-3

The porch light flicked on. Lewis suddenly realized he was all alone with Mr. Gray. A moment later, the front door opened and Josie's grandfather came barreling out. Lewis had hesitated for too long.

"Run!" screeched Mr. Gray. "Run home as fast as you can!"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Mr. Mays yelled angrily.

Lewis was ashamed. He resolved to stop listening to Mr. Gray and to just be himself. The old Lewis would never have egged a house. He wouldn't have gotten to kiss Kenzie either, but that wasn't exactly as pleasant an experience as he always imagined it to be.

Lewis didn't attempt to flee as Mr. Mays ran over to him.

"I should call the police!" he said.

"I'm sorry," said Lewis, lowering his head. "I was with some kids. I didn't realize what they were going to do. I'm really sorry about the window. I'll pay for it." He held out the envelope full of winnings from the jellybean contest.

Mr. Mays took the envelope and glanced through it. His eyebrows rose. "That... that should cover it," he said, surprised. "But you better be planning on sticking around to help clean up."

Lewis glanced around for Mr. Gray, but he was nowhere to be found. "Yes, sir," said Lewis.

"Come on then," said Mr. Mays, walking back towards the house. "My name's Richard, by the way."

"I'm Lewis, Lewis Graham. I'm in chemistry with Josie."

"I remember. Now watch your feet around the glass," said Mr. Mays. "Who throws a hard-boiled egg?" He shook his head.

Hard-boiled... that explains a few things.

Josie, dressed in a loose fitting nightshirt and pajama bottoms, was standing halfway down the stairs when Lewis came in. Her hair, damp and slightly wavy from a recent shower, was clipped back behind her left ear, giving Lewis his first unobstructed view of her face. Her full lips, framed between her high cheekbones, were pursed tight with concern. She wore the same wide-eyed expression she'd had in chemistry class. Her almond-shaped eyes grew even wider when she recognized Lewis standing before her. She glanced around, clearly looking to see if Mr. Gray was present, but Lewis was still alone.

Mr. Mays went to retrieve a broom and dust pan. Lewis immediately honed in on Josie. "What do you know?" he asked.

Josie peeked out the shutters by the front door. "You have one of them following you," she said.

Lewis nodded. "His name is Mr. Gray."

"Like Fifty Shades?"

"I guess," said Lewis. "He probably hasn't read that though."

"I would hope not," said Josie. "But they are much more aware of our culture than you might expect."

Mr. Mays returned with a pair of brooms. He handed one over to Lewis and together they began cleaning up the shattered glass and bits of hard-boiled egg from the living room floor. There was a sideboard beneath the broken window. The largest shards of glass had fallen straight down on top of it, knocking over several framed photographs that were arranged there. Lewis carefully picked up the shards one at a time and tossed them into a heavy-duty black trash bag in the center of the room.

He righted one of the photographs. It was a picture of Josie sitting on the wooden swing out front under the maple tree. She looked to be only about nine or ten at the time it was taken, but her deep brown eyes stared back into his soul hauntingly. She wasn't smiling in the photo—with lips slightly parted, her expression was sorrowful in a way that broke his heart to gaze upon. The way the light framed her through the branches gave her a sort of innocent, angelic quality that was captivating to see.

Mr. Mays noticed him looking at the photograph. He came straight over, picked it up, and held it lovingly to his chest. "Difficult times," he said. "How about you work on sweeping the smaller pieces into a pile."

Lewis stepped away from the sideboard. Josie was still watching him intently from midway up the stairs. The same haunting gaze fell across him. It was even more evocative in person. He shied away from her intensity, focusing instead on the task at hand.

Cleaning up his mess took nearly thirty minutes. Bits of glass had scattered everywhere. Once the bulk of the mess was swept up, Mr. Mays brought out a vacuum cleaner and got to work on the finer shards.

Lewis finally got another moment alone with Josie. He sat down beside her on the stairs. "So, how can you see him?" he asked. "Is it because you're Native?"

"No," said Josie. "That's kinda racist."

Lewis felt his face grow hot again.

"One came to me as a child," she said. "Once one reveals itself to you, you can see their whole species."

Lewis nodded with understanding. "Are there a lot of them around?"

Josie shook her head. "Until today, I hadn't seen any since the night my parents died."

Lewis felt the weight behind those words.

"Be very careful with him," she said. "He wants something from you. If you don't do what he says, bad things might happen, but if you do exactly what he says...."

Worse things might happen.

"Try to find out what he wants. Make sure it's what you want."

Mr. Mays finished vacuuming.

"Would you like my help with the outside?" Lewis asked.

Mr. Mays waved his hand dismissively. "Nah, this happens all the time. I'll just hose it off in the morning."

Lewis felt a pang of sadness for Josie. With all the bullying he'd experience from Landon, he'd at least never had anyone attack his home.

"Hold on a second," said Josie. She ran upstairs and disappeared into what Lewis presumed was her bedroom. She reappeared after a couple of seconds with a book under her arm. "Here," she said, handing it to Lewis.

He glanced at its title: A Secret History of Parcae.

He'd have to keep it hidden from Mr. Gray. He tucked it into the waistband of his pants and pulled his shirt over the top of it.

"Read it," said Josie.

"I will," he said. "Thank you."

Stepping out into the chilly night air, Lewis found Mr. Gray waiting for him beside the maple tree. He had a scowl on his tiny face."I told you to run," he said.

"I know," said Lewis, "I froze up."

"You should have run home," said Mr. Gray. "Now I must go back to the Beyond and see what changes your departure from the path has made. You'll just have to face the consequences of your decisions. I'll be back in the morning for school."

Lewis watched this time as Mr. Gray walked off, over to the other side of the tree, and reached out with his scrawny arms into empty space. It was difficult to see in the dim light, but the air seemed to turn hazy in a small patch. Mr. Gray quickly stepped into the deadened space and vanished from sight. After a few seconds the air returned to normal and Lewis continued his trek home.