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Quatra
Quatra
Quatra
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Quatra

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Quatra is not at peace.

In the fourth oldest known universe nothing is as it seems - Shadow and Light talk and walk, interacting with the world around them in mysterious ways, people manipulate the very atoms around them and others seemingly live forever.

A mysterious race of beings, all dressed the same and looking nearly identical has set out to destroy everything, their motives are unclear, the intentions are always deadly and the unusual duo of a man from Earth and a man as old as time are forced to team up to save their mutual friend, who has been captured by these strange beings to be put to their use, to do as they say.

If there is something worse than death, it is being captured and forced into slavery, an idea Angela knows well. Join Jacob and William in their quest to save her from the alien race set on dominating all of the universe, every universe and explore the universe that is Quatra!

LanguageEnglish
PublisherS van Vliet
Release dateSep 12, 2011
ISBN9781466028500
Quatra

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    Quatra - S van Vliet

    Prologue

    Well, Angela said, standing from where she had been curled on the couch, I suppose I had better go.

    Really? William inquired, sounding disappointed, "Do you really have to go now?"

    I should, it’s getting late and you know I have to be up early in the morning.

    Oh, all right then, William said, with a sigh, as he stood up, I’ll walk you out.

    The pair left the tiny lounge of William’s house and were soon standing on its front veranda. William leaned in and hugged Angela tightly I love you, Poss, he said, using a shortened version of the nickname 'Possum' he liked to call her.

    Love you right back Will, Angela whispered. She disengaged herself from William’s tight embrace, turning to walk to her car, thinking, for an instant, that she had noticed something move - something vaguely person sized, just out of sight in the gloom. Shaking her head abruptly, as if to shake the thought from her mind, she waved goodbye to Will and walked down the veranda steps towards her car.

    Almost half way across the front lawn a sudden feeling of inexplicable cold washed over her, which she thought was strange, as though the night was cool it was not that cold. She almost dismissed the coldness as a breath of cold air blowing through when she though she saw something again move in the darkness, causing her to stop where she stood.

    You all right? William called after her, paused halfway through the door.

    I just thought I saw... her voice trailed off, Oh, never mind. She forced the idea of something moving in the darkness from her head and resumed walking. This time she barely managed two steps before the movement caught her attention again, there was definitely something there. But there was something odd about the way it moved, it looked as if the darkness all around her was moving, not just something moving through the darkness. Once more she stopped, and again William called out to her "Are you sure you’re all right?"

    Yes, yes I’m fine, Angela snapped at him.

    Be like that then, replied William and slammed the door, retreating indoors and leaving Angela standing alone in the unusually crisp air.

    I do wonder about him sometimes, Angela said quietly to herself, as she brushed her dark blonde hair from her face and fumbled in her pocket for her keys, working hard to ignore whatever was - or more likely wasn't - going on around her. Damn it, she exclaimed, realizing that she had left her keys inside. As she turned to go back inside a creeping feeling up the back of her neck made her turn around again. Straining her eyes to look into the darkness, past the glow of streetlights, she became sure that there was something out there, seeming to taunt her and her inability to see it, carefully lying just outside her range of sight. It was gently moving, as if swaying from side to side, or back and forth. As she strained harder to see whatever it was, she became certain that no, it wasn't swaying. It was moving. Definitely moving. Moving steadily closer even. Faster and faster it came towards her, rapidly losing the swaying motion she thought she had seen.

    Soon she could make out the shapes of a crowd of people, all rushing towards her. They all seemed to be dressed in what she could swear were suits, they had slicked back black hair and the moonlight glanced off their polished shoes. Each looked identical to the next, but as they drew closer, she could see minor variations in their appearance. A feeling of cold dread and a long-forgotten fear re-awoken fell upon her and she turned and ran towards the house, tripping and falling as she did so, letting out a cry.

    As Angela tripped William reappeared at the doorway, he had been watching at the window since he went back inside. He had, of course, not really been angry at her, but sometimes Angela just annoyed him with the little things she did, or the way she spoke to him. Angela scrambled back to her feet and called, in a voice a lot less strong than usual, to him, Help me! They’re coming! Help me!

    William looked out at the darkness and was immediately confused; he couldn't see anything or anyone. The night was still, barely a whisper of wind stirred the trees and yet Angela clearly sounded in distress, and was clearly yelling at him about a ‘they’ who seemed to be mysteriously after her. He quickly ran down the steps to her aide, unsure of what to make of what was happening.

    Back inside, quickly! Angela half yelled at him, grabbing his hand as she ran past. "Quickly!" she said again as he was spun around by her and forced to follow her inside. Bolting through the door he only just made it inside before she slammed the door shut, bolting the lock immediately.

    Where have they gone? she asked, peering fearfully around the lace curtain that covered the doors windows.

    William leaned over her head and looked out of the window as well, I don’t see anyone out there Poss... and I didn’t before either, he told her.

    Really? You didn't see anybody? But there were so many of them, surely you must have seen them.

    No, I didn't see anybody.

    William caught Angela's raised eyebrow and look of incredulousness in the reflection on the glass. Oh, don’t look like that, he said, I believe you when you say you saw something, why can't you believe me when I say that I didn't?

    "Because something was there. That is why!"

    "Fine then. Let’s say something was there. And if something was there, you’ll be able to describe it to me."

    And so, Angela explained to him what she had seen. The details were so precise that it left William with no doubt that she had seen the strange suited men outside the house. But the nagging in his mind wouldn't go away - if she had seen them, why hadn’t he? But more important than that was the question of where they were now? He had drifted into his own thoughts and tuned back in to hear Angela saying in a hurried, rambling voice as if talking to herself, - he said something to me that time. Something about a dream he had. There were suited men in that, they all had grey suits - just like the men I have just seen, and they were all almost identical. He told me that they were coming and warned me that I should be ready. But it was just a dream, dreams have no basis in reality. But there was always something about what he said, it pulled at the back of my mind. Like it was something I knew I should be able to remember, but couldn’t. And -

    Sorry, who said what? William interrupted.

    Jake. Jacob said he had a dream about grey-suited men. He said they were coming. Coming for me.

    "But that’s just crazy, scoffed William. Dreams aren’t real. And, if you ask me, that guy is more than a little bit off his rocker. He is just so... so..."

    "He is just so what? Angela demanded. He's my best friend."

    "Oh, here we go, getting all defensive of him again. So, your friend had a dream and it just happens to coincidentally relate to something you think you saw so immediately it's all real."

    "I did see it! I mean, I did see them! They were there."

    Then where are they now then? Vanished into thin air? That many people can’t just vanish into nothing. And you know that as well as I do.

    Oh, this is so stupid Will, we’re arguing over something utterly ridiculous. The longer I sit here in the light and the warmth the more absurd the whole thing sounds.

    True that, William said, a half smile on his face.

    Can you walk me to the car please, just... you know, just in case?

    "Oh, all riiight, William replied feigning reluctance, just this once."

    You’re such a dick, Angela laughed. She was feeling better about the whole ordeal, she was almost sure she must have just imagined it after all. Will had raised a good point, if they had been there where had they gone to now? People, especially that many people, can’t just vanish into nothing, and if he hadn’t seen them perhaps it really was just her imagination, playing off what Jake had told her about his dream. Even as she thought this though, she was unable to quite shake the feeling of a memory trying to push itself to the front of her mind. They headed back outside, hand in hand. A slight movement caught Angela’s eye again, Did you see that? she asked William.

    To her surprise he replied that he had seen something, It’s probably just a dog or something, he replied, his voice calm.

    They carried on walking, at a slightly increased pace and as the temperature dropped again Angela felt the goose-bumps appear on her arms

    Hell, that’s cold, William said, clearly noticing the chill as well.

    They got to the car, and Angela walked around to the driver’s side to get in. As she went to open the door she swore loudly. Her keys, of course, were still inside, the reason she had been going back inside in the first place was to get them. She told William and he obliged to going back and getting them for her.

    She bounced slowly on her feet to keep away the cold chill that seemed to be sweeping through and watched as William vanished up the steps and through the front door. The instant he was out of sight they appeared again, those strange suited men. They had entirely surrounded the house, cutting off all the exits - there was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. The short distance to the door suddenly seemed to stretch out to the distance across the universe. She yelled out to William who appeared after a couple of seconds at the door, holding her keys up. Do you see them now?! she demanded of him, her voice cracking a little in panic. The keys dropped from William’s hand as his face changed to an almost comedic expression of shock; there was her answer. He saw them, he saw every last one of them. He suddenly broke into a run and rushed towards Angela yelling Look out!

    So focused on William was Angela that she hadn’t seen the suited men - they wore grey suits she could see now - closing in on her from the sides and behind. As she quickly spun around, she noticed how close they had got and she screamed as three of them lunged forward and grabbed her. They started to drag her away, her shoes scraping across the gravel of the driveway, then the hard surface of the road. She struggled and twisted, managing to turn to see William being held back by another group of the suited men and she knew there was no way he could help her now. As she came to this frightful conclusion, she really started to panic.

    She screamed, yelled and thrashed about, trying to break the grip of the suited men. Then, suddenly, in amongst the chaos of her panic an idea sprang to her mind. She knew that there was someone who could help her, but he was too far away to be of an use right now. There was someone else who knew of these grey-suited men, and the danger they presented. She knew if anyone could help her it was him, stuffing her hand hastily into her pocket she pulled out her phone. Faking another thrashing fit of panic - which wasn't hard to do - she threw the phone towards the house behind her. Call him, she yelled as loud as she could, hoping William would hear her. Call Jake! He’ll know what to do, he'll know how to -

    A sharp blow struck the side of her head and she neither saw nor heard anymore.

    As suddenly and mysteriously as they had appeared, they vanished. The suited men that held a struggling William to the ground just vanished. He thought he had vaguely heard someone yelling to call Jacob, but he didn’t have his number. His cheek and mouth were throbbing where he had been punched in the face and it seemed to hurt to think. There had been something, something else. A phone! She had thrown her phone! He searched the ground around him, but couldn’t find it while groping in the dark. He was working hard not to panic when he suddenly realized he could call Angela’s phone and it would light up. He scrambled in his pocket for his own phone, and quickly rang Angela. As he had hoped her phone lit up, not far from where he knelt on the cold hard ground and he reached across and grabbed it. Why did you throw this away? Why?! he asked the now silent, warm, night-air around him. He rubbed his hand across his face, then through his hair - not noticing the blood on his hand afterwards.

    The Police! he said suddenly, springing to his feet. He again got out his phone to place a call, this time to the Police. For who else was there to ring when someone was abducted? Jacob? No, Jacob was just a nuisance and just a normal person, no way could he find Angela. Not like the Police, he thought, the Police would find Angela. Quietly to himself he whispered that there was no way in hell he would ask Jacob for help. No way in hell. Despite whatever Angela might have yelled to him about calling him.

    Chapter 1

    In the two weeks since Angela's 'Mysterious Abduction' - as the media had labelled it - William had been interrogated by the investigating Police officers twice. If it hadn't been for his fractured jaw, which their specialists had determined not to be self inflicted, William was sure he would be the sole suspect.

    Evidence that there had been someone else present proved to be impossible to find. William was told at each of his interrogations that there was no DNA, no fingerprints, not even a hair or two to indicate anybody else had been in front of his property. That the grass had been trampled by a 'large number of persons' to quote the reporting officer did not surprise William, he had seen all of the men. What did surprise him was to be told that the trail was officially cold. Other than the drag marks, presumably from Angela's feet, leading vaguely towards the nearby plantation - which had been thoroughly searched - there was no trail for anybody to follow. Though the officer didn't say that they had given up, it was the impression William got.

    On being told the news, while seated with Angela's foster family, William had remained stony faced. Now he had returned home however, the facade cracked. He wanted to rage and yell and preferably hit something, he wanted to do something anything to somehow vent the anger, the frustration but mostly the ever-deepening sadness at Angela's disappearance.

    The sun slowly dipped beneath the horizon as the seemingly endless day wore on and William eventually turned to his bed - though he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep. As he lay in the darkness his mind endlessly repeated the events of that night, over and over again in flawless detail, the same detail he had given to the Police both times they had 'interviewed' him. Eventually William passed into a fitful sleep, full of nightmares where Angela's panicked voice kept screaming at him, screaming at him something about calling somebody, screaming at him that there was something he had forgotten.

    William woke early the next morning, remembering only that he had forgotten something yet positive that it was only a dream. As William lay in bed, undecided on whether he should even bother to get up or if he should just lie there until he didn't feel as on edge as he did, the memory of that horrible night again washed over him. His mind's eye watched as Angela was hurriedly dragged away from him, he could barely see her through the bodies that surrounded him. He saw he throwing her phone towards him, heard her yelling at him to do something. But he couldn't remember what she had yelled. The Police had, of course, been extremely interested in this part of the story, but try as William might he couldn't remember what she had yelled - nor why she had thrown her phone at him. A doctor of some description had declared he was likely to be suffering from some form of stress-induced amnesia and that the memory would probably return eventually, the Police had told him to let them know when it did.

    The Police had taken the phone, examined it in depth and then returned it to Angela's foster family. Her foster family had shown no real interest in it, nor had they shown an interest in her, and William had asked if he could have it. He turned and saw it sitting beside his own phone on the dresser beside his bed. Unsure why he was doing so, he reached for it thinking perhaps he could find a clue in it somewhere as to what had happened to Angela. Pressing one of the keys he was surprised when the screen lit up with an icon stating '1 New Message'. He hit the button to read what the message said and, more importantly, to see who it was from. At the top of the screen was a name which made William screw his face up in disgust: Jake.

    Jacob was as different from William as William thought it was possible to be. Jacob was the type of person to which sports and having friends and the like didn't seem to matter; he was often seen to be reading books on a seemingly endless variety of topics. Strangest of all of Jacobs traits, however, was that Angela was his friend. And that he was hers. In her words he was her best friend, though whenever William asked her why she always stated, without exception, Because he's Jake, with a look in her eye that slightly unsettled him.

    Glancing down the screen from where Jacobs name was displayed William read the message, suddenly remembering what it was that Angela had yelled, screamed at him to do. The message contained two simple words: Call Me.

    Jacob jumped slightly when his phone rang, before picking it up and looking at it, deciding whether or not he should answer the call. He decided that he should, because although the number was unknown, he knew exactly who was calling. He pressed the little green icon and held the phone to his ear.

    Hello William, he said after a slight pause.

    Jacob.

    I've been expecting your call.

    Have you? That's great.

    What is your address? Jacob asked, and listened intently as William told him. Good, good. I'll be there in around twenty minutes. Half an hour max. Jacob rolled his eyes as the line went dead; William had hung up on him. With a heavy sigh Jacob pocketed his phone and headed to his car, to drive to Williams house. Now there was something that he hadn't expected to ever do, but desperate times...

    The Police had, of course, interviewed him. Of all the contacts on Angela's phone he was the one she most often communicated with - at all times of the day and night. But unable to place Jacob, or anyone really, at the scene of the abduction they had soon given up asking him if he knew where she had been taken. When they finally stopped asking, he had been glad, constant lying to them was getting tiresome, after all, he had to make sure his story was the same in each retelling.

    Lost in his thoughts Jacob found himself parking in front of Williams house in next to no time, looking at the small house he had parked in front of he could still vaguely see the marks in the ground where the confrontation had taken place. The Police had, helpfully, marked the drag trail in a paint and it pointed right towards a relatively young plantation. Jacob exited his car, leaving the keys in the ignition and the doors unlocked, knowing that he wouldn't be needing it again.

    He walked up the steps and across the veranda to the front door of Williams house, where he rapped sharply on the glass. 'This is going to get messy,' he thought as William opened the door.

    Hearing the sharp short knocks on the door William got up from his seat, trying, in vain, to remove any sign of resentment from his face. Now that he remembered it, Angela had been adamant that he ring Jacob and so he had done so. Now it was time to find out if Jacob really could help, he doubted that this guy could be better at finding a missing person than the Police, but he was at such a loss that almost any crazy idea could be entertained in his mind - though he didn’t dare raise his hopes. He opened the door, Gidday, he said.

    And the same to you, came Jacobs reply.

    William thought to himself, not for the first time, ‘How on earth can she be friends with this guy?’ Out loud he said, I suppose you had better come in.

    In? No... definitely not in. It’s not like she vanished inside is it. Out will do us, are you coming out? I assume you are, as he was speaking Jacob had ambled over to about the position William had last seen Angela. About here was it? he called. William, barely containing a sudden urge to yell profanities, instead stepped outside.

    Yes, right there was the place I saw her. The Police dogs tracked her to the plantation over there. He waved his hand vaguely at a dark blur that stood up against the horizon behind Jacob’s shoulder.

    I see it, perfect place a plantation. Everything is so... hidden. Jacob muttered as he turned around, raising his hand to his eyes to better see the trees in the distance.

    Yes, William said, sounding a little confused. But what is it supposed to be hiding?

    A Trans-dimensional Jump, or a T.D.J. if you will.

    Trans-dimensional...

    Jump, yes, Jacob nodded. "They happen all the time. Well, no, not all the time. All the time if you know what you're looking for... and how to do it... so, yeah, all the time really. Require incredible amounts of energy to make happen of course, which makes me wonder what they used as the energy source for such a feat."

    Energy source? William asked realizing that although he had been telling himself not to build up hope that Jacob could help, he had apparently had doing just that. He felt the bubble bursting within his chest as Jacob talked what was clearly some sort of delusional gibberish. ‘Trans-Dimensional Jump’ seemed like a pretty straight forward term, it seemed to imply exactly what it said: jumping between dimensions. The problem lay with whatever dimensions were, whatever they were it didn’t seem to ring any bells with his own understanding of the world. He only knew of dimensions as a type of measure - length, width and height - but he suspected Jacob was talking about something else entirely. William realized that, while he had been lost in his thoughts, trying to come to an understanding that made sense, Jacob had continued to babble on and when William tuned back in, he caught Jacob ending - so we need to go to the plantation. Off we go then, lead the way and follow the path that they took.

    William reluctantly led the pair towards the plantation, as Jacob became strangely quiet with a thoughtful look on his face. He was counting on his fingers, then would seem to lose count, screw up his face then start counting again.

    Any use? William asked, a more than little sarcastically.

    No use at all, Jacob replied seeming to either miss or ignore the sarcasm, "I was trying to work out the energy needed for so many to cross and it’s just not possible. Well, at least it shouldn’t be possible, obviously it is possible or we wouldn’t be here doing this right now. But it really shouldn’t be. Massive amounts of energy would be needed, massive!"

    You do know you’re not making any sense. All this talk about dimensions and things. What’s a dimension? William sheepishly asked, he knew he wasn’t the smartest person out there, but like most people didn’t like to make it obvious.

    A dimension? This is a dimension that we are walking through right now. This universe as we know it is a dimension.

    With you so far...

    Good. So, think of it like... tissues in a box. Each tissue is by itself singular, but both above it and below it, are more tissues. In this instance, each tissue is a dimension.

    So, you are talking about other universes? Parallel worlds? That sort of thing?

    Yes! Excellent you understand it! Except, well, it's nothing like what I said... but if it helps you understand what dimensions are, then it's exactly like what I said. But it's important to remember the difference between different dimensions and parallel worlds or universes. A parallel reality everything is much the same, some differences here and there. In an alternate dimension anything is possible, nothing can be similar to our universe at all. Jacob looked excited now, like a kid in a candy store. William had a funny feeling he may have just unleashed another torrent of nonsense, but none came. Instead when William looked across at Jacob, he instead saw that he had resumed his counting.

    The pair walked on, eventually entering the plantation that Angela had disappeared in. Jacob told William to keep going to the exact spot where the trail went cold, and William obliged. All the while thinking about how pointless this whole thing was, and wondering why Angela had been so determined that he contact Jacob. They walked up to where the police tape still encircled the exact location of the trail going cold.

    Right, so this is the place? enquired Jacob.

    This is it.

    Excellent. Right. So. We are looking for a bit of glass. Probably a bit like a mirror. It probably won’t be very big, maybe about the size of a fingernail, maybe the size of a large coin. Something in that sort of range anyway.

    You're saying that you brought us all the way out here, to look for a piece of mirror? Why did you not say at home?! I could easily have broken a damned mirror and given you a piece! William yelled, enraged at Jacob’s seemingly stupid request.

    "It’s not a mirror you idiot. It’s a portion of a Trans-Dimensional Gateway. Maybe even the whole gateway," snarled Jacob.

    Yelling again William snapped at Jacob, "You know what? I don’t believe you. Not even a tiny bit. You’re just talking nonsense, some fantasy that you made up. None of what you have said makes any sense and I don’t believe you. I don't and... and I won't. Trans-Dimensional Jumps! What sort of idiot do you take me for? There is no such thing; you just brought me out here to somehow rub my face in it. This is just a complete waste of -"

    "Oh, shut up would you interjected Jacob. You have no idea what you are talking about. You just wait, you’ll see and then you’ll be sorry. For then, then we’ll see who you really are."

    "What is that supposed to mean? Can you not ever just talk normally; in a way that, you know, makes sense!"

    You know what? Go away. Go on! Clearly you don’t want my help, so off you go. Leave.

    "Well, you're right about something for a change. I don’t want your bloody help. You are a bloody annoying know-it-all who thinks they’re superior to everyone. The only reason you are even here is because Angela told me, with the last words I heard her speak, to call you. So, I did. And now here you are being no help at all!"

    "Funny that she told you to call me, she was being abducted by the grey-suited men after all. And who knows more about the grey-suited men than I? So here I am. Helping."

    "Some help you are, all you've done so far is speak in riddles, and bring us all the way out here to look for a mirror! What are these grey-suited men anyway if you're the expert? Some sort of freaking alien zombies from the planet Zorg in this other dimension you're on about? Do you take me to have no brain at all?! I am not that stupid!"

    "Hmm. So, you do know about them then, Jacob calmly said, the heat of the argument seeming to suddenly leave him. But you can’t know, or you wouldn’t be acting like this... Jacob heaved a sigh. Do you know?"

    "Do I know what?" William snapped, less willing to let go of his anger than Jacob was.

    About the grey-suited men. You said ‘alien zombies’, so I want to know what you know about them.

    "Are you trying to tell me that that is what the grey-suited men are? Alien zombies?" William was incredulous; this whole situation had left the ridiculous and had become downright insane.

    Ah so you don’t know but have instead just sort of stumbled upon it. In a way, I suppose, yes that’s what they are. I don’t know where they come from, or why they do what they do - though that isn't for a lack of trying to find out and I have my ideas. The basics of it, really, is that they are not of this earth, they are not even from this dimension... and the more of them you eliminate, the more there seems to be. Just like all the good zombie movies. So, yeah, ‘alien zombies’ probably is a very fitting term. Have you found me that mirror yet?

    No, I haven’t found your damn mirror yet. Are you going to tell me the rest of this stupid story now?

    "The rest of the story? No. Not now. We have far, far, more pressing issues at hand. See, it gets late."

    William looked up, from where he was scanning the ground for this 'mirror' Jacob was on about, to see him pointing at the sky, which, sure enough, was darkening into dusk. Where the day had disappeared to William didn’t know, Can’t we just look for it tomorrow? William thought if they went back to his house, he could perhaps break a mirror, or something like it, give it to Jacob and then maybe he would be content and stop with this silly story, this silly charade.

    No, no we can't delay any longer. It’s already been two weeks, that's almost an eternity! It has to be around here somewhere...

    Reluctantly William helped to look for the mirror like object Jacob was so determined existed. He even went so far as to dig through the pine needles that sat several centimetres thick, but he saw no sign of the mirror or even a shard of glass. As the light slowly failed William sat at the base of the nearest tree and declared the search hopeless, as well as pointless.

    It didn't take long before Jacob joined him. I am sorry, it would seem we may be too late.

    I should’ve called you sooner... sighed William, resigned to going along with Jacobs crazy trans-dimensional idea - for the moment at least.

    And we still would have found nothing. Let us not worry about should-have-dones, would-have-beens and what-ifs. Let us instead worry about what we're going to do next. I’m not usually one for giving up entirely, but -

    This time you are?

    "I was going to say that, however..." Jacob trailed off. It looked to William as if he was staring far into the distance, a look of grave concentration was written all over his face.

    "However, what? This time you are going to give up? I knew you would, this is all just some sort of game to you isn't it? Tell me why, why, does Angela like you so much. I don’t see -" William started, launching into another verbal assault on Jacob.

    Shh! said Jacob suddenly, holding his hand up in a half pointing - half shooshing gesture towards William. Someone is coming.

    William held his tongue and listened intently. He couldn’t hear anything and was about to say so when there was the unmistakable sound of a branch snapping, as if under a heavy foot. Jacob tapped him on the shoulder waving for him to follow as he disappeared behind the current row of trees and then another.

    They’re back, whispered Jacob, the grey-suited men.

    How can you be so sure? asked William, trying to keep quiet.

    Well who else is it going to be?

    William could think of many other people it could be, from the owner of the bit of land come to see who was wandering about in their trees at near darkness to the police come to pick up the last of their equipment, it could even be some drunk, staggering around lost on his way home; many, many options occurred to him. However, to Williams surprise, when the figure finally came into view it was one of the grey-suited men. He pulled something small and round from his pocket and started to pull on its edges. As the pair watched from the trees the small object was suddenly hand sized, then plate sized as the mysterious grey-suited man teased it out. We need that, Jacob suddenly whispered, making William jump and swear loudly.

    The grey-suited man snapped around at the sudden noise. His eyes seemed to almost glow in the half-darkness of the setting sun and William found himself caught in the man's gaze. For a moment the grey-suited man had been looking the other way, or at least William thought he had been looking the other way, then, suddenly, he was gazing right into the eyes of the man. He felt as if he was leaning towards him, as if his feet were planted firmly on the ground but his head was being stretched out and drawn into those strange eyes that seemed to look right into his very being.

    Out of nowhere, with a loud crash of tree branches, Jacob flew at the man tackling him to the ground. William’s gaze was suddenly freed and he rapidly realized the whole time his gaze had been held he hadn’t been able to move, not that he’d had the urge to do so - it was a truly strange sensation that he almost wanted to experience again. But now that he could move and look around, he saw that Jacob was bashing at the man’s head with a rock.

    William was shocked to his core.

    This was something he hadn’t expected. When they had been at school Jacob wouldn’t even throw a punch if he was suddenly in the middle of a fight - which seemed to have happened quite a lot, Jacob was one of the main targets of the school bullies after all - yet here he was bashing a man in the head with a rock, seemingly determined to kill. William was suddenly urged into action, the man was about to slip into unconsciousness, he could see it in the way the man's struggling suddenly subsided and his head began to roll. He ran over and grabbed Jacob’s up-stretched arm, as he reached up to deal the final blow. What the hell?! William demanded.

    He will kill us. Have no doubt in your mind of that, replied Jacob, the calmness and finality in his voice almost had William believing him.

    He’s the only one who knows where Angela is, William reasoned, trying to bring the man back to consciousness by slapping his face gently, then harder, without him, how the hell are we meant to find her?

    "I know where she is and now that I have that little object of his that’s a little bit like a mirror, we can get to her, get her back. We don’t need him. He will kill us; it is his duty."

    Duty? What the hell are you on about?!

    Jacob let out a roar of anger, There is no time to explain, you have wasted enough time as it is!

    "You will explain!"

    Will I? there was a strange glint in Jacob’s eye that put William off pressing the issue anymore. "I will explain when I see fit to explain and now is not when I see fit."

    Fine have it your way. So, what do we do? We can’t just leave this guy here.

    Oh, yes we can. And we are going to. We’re leaving.

    Leaving? asked William half raising an eyebrow, Leaving to where?

    To another dimension of course, declared Jacob, in a tone that implied it most obvious thing in the world.

    William looked up from the man lying bleeding and half conscious on the ground to where Jacob was standing. He had in his hands the thing that the suited man had had and was stretching it out in much the same fashion, making it bigger and bigger. Soon it was the same height as him and within a few seconds it was wide enough for three men, let alone two, to stand side by side in front of comfortably. Its surface appeared to be made of glass, but you couldn’t stretch glass like that. In it were reflections of the trees, looking slightly different, as if distorted somehow. Jacob also had a reflection in the strange mirror, looking just as distorted as the trees. However, on inspection, William saw no sign of a reflection of himself nor of the suited man lying on the ground. It took William a few moments to realize this fact and when he did, he jumped to his feet, staring at the strange mirror feeling panicked. He began to rave like a mad-man, I can see you, and I can see the trees! But... I don’t see me! Or him! Why don’t I see me? What kind of mirror is this? You’ve killed him! Haven’t you? That’s why I can’t see him! Does that mean I am dead as well? I have no reflection so I must be dead -

    Jacob loudly cut across his ravings, "You aren’t dead you imbecile and this isn’t a mirror. Nor are things like the dead having no reflection even remotely true, of course they have a reflection or as soon as something died it'd vanish from sight. This is a Trans-Dimensional Gateway, a T.D.G. Not to be confused with T.D.J. Easy mistake to make, they do sound the same, Jacob’s tone of voice changed as he spoke, he seemed to suddenly be enjoying himself. He sounded like someone who was about to burst into a fit of laughter Of course, Gateway and Jump sound nothing alike so you could just say TD-Jump or TD-Gateway but it’s just too much of a mouthful, so everyone uses the easily confused version for simplicities sake, in a somewhat ironic twist."

    William was slowly becoming use to Jacob’s strange way of talking, he was starting to realize that Jacob had a habit of going off into tangents and talking largely to himself as opposed to whoever was near him at the time. So... this mirror thing is a Gateway? To another dimension? But... why are you already there? He asked while the suited man on the ground groaned and tried to roll himself onto his stomach.

    That’s elementary my dear Watson, answered Jacob, and flashed a grin. "I’ve always wanted to say that, although in the books Sherlock Holmes never did actually say it himself - it’s just a common misconception... a bit like how 'Beam me up, Scotty' was never actually said in Star Trek, though everyone thinks it was. Any who, the reason you see me and you don’t see yourself is simple. You don’t exist in that dimension. I do though, but it is quite difficult to have myself awake in both places at once, quite difficult indeed," he said by way of explanation, kicking the suited man who was struggling to his feet back onto the ground.

    So, Angela... she is... in that other dimension? With that other you?

    Yes, that's where she is, thought she isn’t stricktly with that other me. So, if you really want her back - you do want her back, don't you? William nodded slowly, Well, in that case it's through we go then. Your very first T.D.J., note that I said J for jump not G for gateway. Though it is your first gateway as well really. Oh, how I envy you right now, I remember my first time, such a strange sensation. A bit like being pulled into a black-hole but not quite the same, a bit less... spaghetti like. Right off we go... ah of course, but first... Jacob reached out and touched the mirror-like gateway, as William noticed for the first time was actually holding itself up as opposed to being held up by Jacob. There was a bright flash of light and Jacob went hurtling backwards through the air, crashing through several rows of trees before coming to a stop when he landed heavily on the ground. He hauled himself back to his feet swearing loudly and massaging his temples. As he got to his feet, his attention seemed to be caught by something, he gave a brief smile seemed to say something and give a small nod, then walked back to where William stood.

    What the hell was that? enquired William.

    "Oh, that, well you see I had to merge the two versions of me into one version of me. Imagine two of me! I’d be arguing with myself all day long, yet still I’d never get a word in edgewise. It'd be brilliant! I would be brilliant if there was two of me, twice the brilliance of one of me..."

    Sure enough, when William looked back at the gateway, he saw that Jacob no longer had a reflection. He looked from the gateway to Jacob then back to the gateway, then back to Jacob.

    You’ll get a crook neck if you keep that up much longer, Jacob laughed.

    You’ve changed! exclaimed William suddenly, There are some things that aren’t the same as before, where did you get that bag? He pointed at a green, apparently canvas bag now hanging off Jacob’s shoulders. As he watched William became sure that Jacob also looked physically older, more careworn, but he brushed it off as being a trick of the light.

    Oh, I got that from the version of me that was in the other dimension. It’s very hard to explain -

    Don’t bother with it then, I wouldn’t understand, William stated, before Jacob could launch into an explanation that would undoubtedly take all night and involve going off on at least twenty different tangents before finally arriving at its point.

    "So, off we go then!

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