A Journey Through Time
Chapter 3

Cayla and I whipped around and planted our backs against the door at the same time that Tommy stepped in front of me, blocking me from view. I peeked over his shoulder to see who were in front of us. Three people stood across from us, two guys and a woman; a family. The father was huge, in height and body type. He was completely bald but had a thick bushy black beard. He had dark beady eyes and wore blue jeans and a black t-shirt with the sleeves ripped off. He had his arms crossed over his chest and was studying all of us but I was relieved to replace that he didn’t look angry, just curious. The woman was tall too but slender with sandy brown hair and soft hazel eyes. She wore a pale green summer dress under a flower patterned apron. The son couldn’t have been any older than us, with thick feathery black hair and the same light hazel eyes as his mother. He wore regular jeans and a white polo shirt.

“Are you kids in some kind of trouble?” the bald man asked. He had a deep gruff voice but I could hear the touch of concern in it. I elbowed Tommy out from in front of me and faced the man head on.

“No we’re just………………………………………………………………………………………………..really really lost” I said. I didn’t know how else to explain it so I went with lost. The man shared a long look with his wife and she nodded her head. The man sighed and waved us in to what I realized was their living room. We’d run into this family’s apartment thinking it was an empty room.

“Come on in and sit down kids, you look scared” he said. I grabbed Cayla and Tommy by the arms and pulled them over to the couch with me. As I pulled Cayla down beside me, I noticed the kid eyeing her.

“My name is Ruth, this is my husband Dale and our son Cameron” the woman said. She had a soft soothing voice that had even Tommy relaxing slowly. Cameron smiled slightly in Cayla’s direction and she rolled her eyes when he looked away.

“I’m Vanessa, this is Cayla and Tommy” I said. Dale and Ruth sat on the loveseat across the room from us and Cameron took the straight back chair beside the fireplace across from the front door.

“You kids are welcome to relax here until you calm down. Can I get you anything?” Ruth asked. I glanced over at Cayla and Tommy and they both shook their heads. I looked back up at her.

“No, thank you ma’am, we’re okay” I said. She gave us a sweet smile and disappeared through an archway where I assume the kitchen was. Dale sat back on the loveseat and flung an arm across the cushion where his wife had been sitting.

“Why don’t you tell me what happened?” he suggested. I looked over at Cayla and Tommy again. Cayla looked petrified; her eyes were wide and her hands were clenched into fists on her thighs. Tommy looked scared too but he hid it better than she did. He shrugged his shoulders at me. I took a deep breath and turned back to Dale.

“Well, we came here with a bunch of our friends just to look around and I guess we got turned around somewhere. We lost touch with our friends and we don’t know how to replace them” I said. Dale took a deep breath and sat forward again. For a second, I got the impression that he was going to accuse me of lying, but he didn’t.

“We’ll I’m not surprised you got lost in here, especially if this is your first time in the building. Believe it or not, I got lost in here my first time too, the building is pretty big” he said. I breathed out in silent relief and glanced over at Cayla. Her eyes were still wide but she smiled timidly. Poor Cayla, I understood why she was so frightened but I didn’t feel any fear at all. ‘I wonder why that is?’ I thought. Ruth’s voice interrupted whatever Dale had been about to say.

“Honey, can you come help me a minute?” she called. Dale gave us a bright white smile and headed off to the kitchen, leaving us alone with Cameron. The kid was still openly eyeing Cayla, a small devious smirk on his face.

“So” he started, his eyes never leaving Cayla’s face. He motioned vaguely in Tommy’s direction and I cocked an eyebrow. “Is he your boyfriend?” he asked. Cayla’s eyes widened until they resembled tea saucers but she never got a word in.

“No, he’s mine” I snapped. Cameron didn’t seem affected by my tone, in fact he just smiled wider but Tommy and Cayla both turned to look at me. I waited for the burn in my cheeks or the hot wave of embarrassment, but neither came. I had no idea why I’d just blurted to a complete stranger that Tommy was my boyfriend, a statement that was completely false. But I couldn’t replace the urge to take it back and Tommy and Cayla kept quiet. Ruth and Dale came back in at that moment, each of them carrying trays. Ruth’s tray held a polished silver tea kettle, a porcelain sugar bowl, and three china cups. Dale’s tray held three steaming bowls of delicious smelling beef stew. My stomach grumbled loudly at the thought of food and Dale chuckled lightly. He handed out the bowls while Ruth poured us each a cup of tea. Although we were all hesitant to trust these people, hunger overpowered our suspicion and we all tried the stew simultaneously. After the first taste, it seemed almost impossible to stop. I felt like I’d gone days without eating rather than just a few hours. We all finished our bowls within seconds of each other and then Tommy wasted no time in downing his tea.

“Goodness, you kids seem hungry. When was the last time you ate?” Ruth asked. I looked over and locked eyes with Cayla while Tommy poured more tea into his cup. Cayla didn’t seem as startled as before but I could tell from the look in her eyes that she was having trouble guessing the length of time we’d been here too. It seemed like time had slowed down and we were the only ones who noticed. I turned back to look at Ruth.

“Honestly, we don’t know. It feels longer than it’s probably been” I said. Ruth and Dale looked at each other and a look of deep concern formed on Ruth’s face. Dale nodded once.

“Well I’ll just get dinner started then” Ruth said climbing to her feet. Tommy looked up, a startled look on his face, and mine and Cayla’s jaws dropped. Tommy put his tea cup down a little too hard and everyone looked at him.

“We’re thankful for the stew but that isn’t necessary” he said. Cayla and I both nodded in agreement. Ruth chortled lightly and flapped her hand at us.

“Nonsense, it’s no trouble and I can’t leave three youngsters such as yourselves to wonder around with empty stomachs. After dinner, I’ll have Cameron help you get home” she said before disappearing into the kitchen again. Cameron smirked at us. Cayla and I set our stew bowls down on the empty tray and I shared a frightened look with Tommy. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Dale grunted and stood up as well.

“Cam, why don’t we clean up here and help your mother in the kitchen” he said. Cameron looked startled for a moment but a stern look from his father got him up and moving. They cleared away the trays and when they disappeared into the kitchen too, I turned to Cayla and Tommy.

“We’re not really gonna stay, are we?” Cayla asked. She kept her voice low and although I was pretty sure they wouldn’t hear us from the kitchen, I was glad she had. Tommy ruffled his curls as he thought and I caught myself staring at him. ‘This isn’t the time Vanessa’ I chided myself. ‘Focus’ I thought. Tommy brushed a curl out of his eyes and took a deep breath.

“It doesn’t really seem like they’re giving us a choice, and they seem nice enough. I mean they didn’t poison us with the stew or tea” he said. Cayla scoffed and rolled her eyes. I dared a glance at the kitchen doorway.

“Okay fine but it can’t really be close enough to the time to start dinner, can it? It’s still gotta be early morning, right?” she asked. I hunted down a clock while Tommy sighed and took a guess.

“Maybe it’s one of those meals that has to cook all day” he suggested. Cayla mumbled something that sounded like an agreement but it was muffled to me. I’d found the clock, hanging on a peg above the front door. I checked my watch again just to be sure but it said the same thing the clock said; 9:38 AM. There was no way only an hour and a half had passed; it seemed too short of a time span.

“Without looking at the clock, what time would you guys say it was?” I asked. I could hear the hollow fear in my voice and Tommy gave me a concerned look but he glanced at the windows.

“I’d say about noon, maybe later. Why?” he answered. I said nothing, just shoved my watch under their noses. After a few minutes, Cayla tapped the face lightly with her fingernail to make sure it was still working.

“Ness, how long has it been since you’ve changed the battery in your watch? It still says its 9 AM” Tommy said. I motioned vaguely towards the clock on the wall before getting up and heading towards the kitchen. I stopped just outside the doorway to listen.

“You’ll need to make a bigger pot dear, you’re feeding six, remember?” Dale said. Ruth grunted and I heard the sound of a metal pan hit the stove. It must have been heavy for her because she was breathing hard when she spoke.

“Yes of course, hand me the spices honey” Ruth said. I peeked around the corner just in time to see Dale hand Ruth a packet of something while Cameron stood by and watched. He caught me looking and I jerked my head back to motion him out of the kitchen. He stopped in front of me and crossed his arms.

“Where are we? Like the town name?” I asked. Cameron frowned in confusion and he shuffled his feet for a second. His answer frightened me.

“Black Hollow.” Okay, so we hadn’t left the city but that didn’t explain why I’d never seen this building before or what it had to do with the Slateman Mansion. Black Hollow was a small town, we didn’t keep secrets well. It also didn’t explain the fog.

“What about the fog?” I asked. Cameron raised an eyebrow and glanced over to where Cayla and Tommy were staring at me from the couch. His look turned skeptical and he shook his head in exasperation.

“What fog?” he asked. I led him over to the nearest window and pulled back the curtain. The thick grey fog still hung over where the street should’ve been and as I looked closer, it seemed to be…………………………………………………………………..moving. Like the undulation of a snake’s belly. I shuddered and looked away from the window. Cameron stepped up beside me and looked out the window but his expression didn’t change.

“There’s no fog out there” he said. I turned my head slowly to look at him but he just looked annoyed, like I was playing him instead of the other way around. I looked back out the window again but the fog hadn’t moved. ‘How could anyone miss that?’ I wondered. I cleared my throat quietly.

“Well what do you see?” I whispered. Cameron scoffed and stared at me like I’d gone crazy, but after a few seconds he answered.

“The road, cars driving passed. City Hall across the street” he said. His tone had a sarcastic edge to it but something he’d said caught my attention and I looked over at him.

“This building is across from City Hall?” I asked. Cameron’s expression soured further and he pointed out the window. I didn’t bother following his finger.

“Yes, are you blind? It’s right there” he said. That explained a little and confused me a lot. This building wasn’t in the Black Hollow I knew, because across from City Hall was the town cemetery. This building never existed.

“Thanks” I mumbled. I let the curtain fall over the window again and turned away from it. Cameron crossed his arms over his chest and rolled his eyes.

“Are you sure you didn’t hit your head?” he asked. I ignored him and made my way back to the couch. Cameron disappeared back into the kitchen. I hoped our conversation was strange enough that he wouldn’t mention it to his parents. Cayla and Tommy split apart, leaving me a space in between them, and Cayla put her arm around my shoulders as soon as I sat down.

“What did he say to you?” Tommy demanded. I realized a second too late that he sounded jealous but I was filled with so much raw horror that I didn’t react to it.

“These people aren’t going to be any help to us, but not because they don’t want to be” I whispered. I kept my head down so I didn’t see the looks they gave me, but I saw them share a look.

“What do you mean, Vanessa?” Cayla asked. I swallowed thickly and stood up again, pulling them up with me. I pulled them to the window behind the couch and yanked the curtains back. Tommy’s eyes popped and Cayla’s mouth dropped open.

“They can’t see the things we can. They may be able to help us through the building but once we get outside, we’re on our own” I whispered. Tommy and Cayla stared out the window until I pulled the curtains closed again. Cayla didn’t react physically but Tommy closed his eyes and took two deep breaths. He ran a shaky hand through his hair and looked at me from behind his curls.

“What do we do?” he asked softly. I pulled him and Cayla back over to the couch and sat in between them again. I had to pinch Cayla to get her attention back but she didn’t complain.

“I think we should stay. We’re safe here for now and we wouldn’t know where to go if we decided to run. Besides, those guys could still be looking for us” I said. I could tell they didn’t like it but they both nodded their heads. Ruth, Dale, and Cameron came out of the kitchen at that moment and sat back down in front of us. I saw Cameron glance at me and then roll his eyes; apparently he still thought I was nuts.

“It’s gonna be a few hours still kids, so why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourselves?” Dale suggested. Cayla and Tommy looked over at me and I shrugged my shoulders. I didn’t see any harm in that.

“What would you like to know?” Tommy asked. Ruth smiled widely, an ultra-sweet smile that had all my muscles relaxing and the fear and worry I was feeling to be pushed to the back of my mind. I could tell from the looks on Tommy and Cayla’s faces that they felt the same.

“Why don’t you start with your ages and if you live together? Cameron mentioned that Vanessa is your girlfriend Tommy; do you two live together?” Ruth asked. Some sense of normalcy had returned to me because I felt my cheeks heat up. Tommy answered without missing a beat though.

“We’re all 18, and no, I still live with my parents and sister. Cayla and Nessa live together in an apartment that Nessa’s parents bought her before they died” he said. Ruth and Dale gasped and Ruth covered her mouth with both hands. Even Cameron looked sorry for me.

“You poor thing, how did they die?” Dale asked. I was used to the question by now but that didn’t step my heart from splintering slightly. Tommy’s hand found mine and he squeezed my fingers.

“In a plane crash coming back from Portugal. My dad had family there and they went to see them” I muttered. Dale and Ruth shared a saddened look and then they turned their attention to Cayla.

“What about you Cayla, dear? Why don’t you still live with your parents?” Ruth asked. Cayla pushed her hair back and her blue eyes sparkled when she smiled.

“My parents are foster parents for special needs kids but we never had a very big house. I moved in with Vanessa so they’d have more room for the kids they take in” she said. Up until that moment, I’d completely forgotten what Cayla’s parents did. I didn’t understand why though, Cayla’s dad was always building on to their house to accommodate a new kid. That kind of noise was usually hard to ignore.

“How sweet of them, there needs to be more people in the world like that. Tommy honey, what do your parents do?” Ruth asked. Tommy shifted slightly so he could slip his arm around my waist and I tensed. I suddenly got the impression that Tommy was using my slip of telling Cameron he was my boyfriend, against me.

“My mom doesn’t work, except for running the soup kitchen sometimes, and my dad owns his own mechanic shop” he said. I zoned out after that while they continued to quiz Cayla and Tommy. I wasn’t able to fade out completely though as Tommy kept running his thumb over the small part of my hip that peeked out from under my shirt. His touch was giving me goosebumps and I knew he could feel them. By unintentionally blurting that Tommy was my boyfriend, I’d given him the excuse to touch me whenever he wanted and it was driving me absolutely insane. Tommy pinched me gently when Dale finally directed a question at me.

“You mentioned that you came here with some of your friends; how did you get separated from them?” he asked. I cleared my throat and looked down at my hands while Tommy continued to play with the visible skin of my hip.

“Um……………………………………………….well we’d split up to try to replace the stairs to get out and these guys grabbed one of our friends. They chased the rest of us around until we split up again and we ended up in here” I said. Dale cleared his throat, making Cayla and I jump.

“Were they wearing dark blue jumpsuits?” he asked. I frowned and glanced between Cayla and Tommy before looking back at him and nodding my head. Ruth looked over at Dale, shaking her head.

“The D.D.S., what do they have against kids?” she asked. I raised an eyebrow and Tommy sat forward slightly. His arm fell from my hip and without thinking, I moved it back.

“You know them?” he asked. Both Dale and Ruth nodded their heads. Ruth looked slightly saddened and Dale had a mixture of frustration and anger on his face.

“The D.D.S is like the police for this building but they only ever target kids. Any kid they replace here that doesn’t live here, they chase down and lock up” he said. My eyes widened.

“Lock up?” I repeated. Dale nodded his head and I looked over at Cayla. I knew she was thinking exactly what I was. Sean; they’d already caught him.

“A couple of years ago, a young photographer came in to get a few pictures and they locked her up” he said. I squealed slightly and Tommy dug his fingers into my hip bone. I covered it with a small cough. He was talking about the photographer that had gone missing in the 1900s, except he said it like it had happened recently instead of over a hundred years ago. I glanced sideways at Tommy and saw that his eyes were as wide as mine were. I swallowed the rising lump in my throat.

“What does D.D.S. stand for?” I asked. A timer went off from the kitchen, startling Cayla, Tommy, and myself but Ruth calmly stood up to go check on it.

“It stands for Department of Dimensional Security, and they take their job way too seriously” Dale answered. My blood turned to ice and I felt a shiver travel down my spine. ‘Dimensional?’ Even my inner voice was a terrified squeak. Tommy tightened his arm around my waist a fraction and I felt Cayla reach over and take my hand.

“Dimensional?” I questioned. I managed to keep the squeak out of my voice but it still came out small and terrified. Dale nodded solemnly.

“Yeah, they think of this building as its own dimension, which I think is insane, and they’re hell bent on keeping outsiders from knowing about it. If you ask me, I think they’re a bunch of sci fi nerds that spent too much time with their noses in supernatural comic books and they don’t have anything better to do with their lives. I’m shocked they have any authority at all” he said. Dale was painfully clear that he didn’t believe in any of it but I still had a cold chill in my body. If what he’d said was true and this building was a completely different dimension from the Black Hollow we knew, it certainly explained a lot. The hallway we’d come through that had disappeared as soon as we were all through; that had been a portal. It explained the lag in time although I wasn’t sure how, and the mysterious grey fog. Again though I wasn’t sure how. My only question was how the hell did these people know we were here? My thoughts were interrupted by a furious knocking in the kitchen and a few seconds later, Ruth appeared in the doorway, her face white.

“Dale, it’s them. Get these kids out of here now, I’ll stall them” she said. Tommy, Cayla, and I jumped to our feet as Ruth turned back into the kitchen. Dale rushed to his feet and put a finger to his lips before waving us to the front door.

“You won’t have long before they realize you’ve been here. Follow this hallway down and keep going right. If we see any of your friends, we’ll tell them the same” he rushed out. Tommy nodded as he wrestled the door open. He’d grabbed my free hand in a vice like grip and he wasn’t letting go.

“We didn’t mean to cause trouble, we really are just lost” I whispered. Dale smiled slightly and pressed his finger softly to my lips.

“I know sweetheart, but the D.D.S. won’t stop to listen. And don’t worry about us, we’ll be fine. Whatever you do, never stop running” he said. A crash sounded from the kitchen and I heard Ruth cry out. Dale pushed us out into the hallway and whispered “run” before quietly shutting the door.