Beyond the Doors Read online

  “Are you happy?” he snapped at Janice.

  Janice could only stand there, dumb to the world.

  What had she done?

  Sydney raced through the house toward the hatch leading to the central room. Upon reaching the imposing vault, however, she hesitated, not exactly sure what she was supposed to do. On one hand, Alexa was in pain and needed an adult to see to her injury—even an adult as flighty as Aunt Gladys. On the other hand, Aunt Gladys had left strict instructions not to be interrupted.

  Sydney shrugged. She’d never been very good at following instructions.

  She knocked gingerly on the partially open titanium door.

  Too scatterbrained to close the door, she thought. Figures.

  After the briefest of pauses, Sydney decided Aunt Gladys wasn’t answering her knock and more direct methods of communication were required. She inched up to the door, senselessly afraid for some reason, and peered an eye through the crack. Then the other eye wanted in on the action, so she eased the door open a bit more. When neither eye was able to make out much, the rest of her head got in on the act, followed by her arms and legs, and before she knew it, Sydney had opened the door wide enough to squeeze her whole body through.

  She stood inside the room—and stared at a ratty, stained, tannish-brownish curtain hanging in front of her, blocking her view.

  Loath to touch the curtain for fear of contracting an exotic disease, Sydney pushed it aside with the tip of her pinkie and stepped into the cavernous shrine beyond.

  Her mind had difficulty accepting what her eyes claimed to be seeing. The room was massive. Four stories tall, circular, and wide open. The curved walls were ringed with floor-to-ceiling scaffolding, and a web of glass formed an enormous skylight that diffused the soft moonlight shimmering its way into the room. Littered about the floor were the shattered remains of dozens of wooden doors, each one cracked neatly in half.

  That was all very weird.

  But in the middle of the room was something even weirder.

  On a slightly raised platform, perhaps a foot above the ground, stood a large, ornate wooden door like one you’d find in a royal palace. It was bolted into a brass doorframe. A series of thick black cables ran along the floor from the door to a small bank of machines off to the side. The machines were something out of a bad sci-fi movie, with blinking lights, countless dials and buttons and toggle switches, and glowing glass bulbs of every shape and size. Topping off the whole “mad scientist” vibe were the random bolts of faint blue energy whizzing and crackling around the surface of the door.

  That was extra freaky.

  After she’d gawked long and hard for a bit, Alexa’s plight popped back into Sydney’s head. Tearing her eyes away from the disturbing centerpiece of the room, she searched for her aunt. It took her less than five seconds to see she wasn’t there.

  “Aunt Gladys?” she whispered into the cavernous enclosure. There was no reply.

  She knew she should run out of the room and keep searching for the so-called adult of the house, but instead she found herself inexorably drawn to the strange, buzzing, fancy-pants door in the center of the room. A big, bulky glass doorknob stuck out from the wood. Sydney slowly circled the platform, wary of actually setting foot upon it, and tried to imagine what in the world her aunt was up to. Nothing came to her, though at least now she knew what Aunt Gladys did with all the doors infesting her home.

  Completing her ring around the platform (and noticing a lack of a doorknob on the opposite side), Sydney frowned. She had absolutely no idea what the contraption was for, which she found both bothersome and compelling. She was entranced by the mysterious puzzle of the door. She wanted to touch it. She wanted to open it.

  Bad idea, Sydney, she told herself. You’ll probably get electrocuted or something. Leave it alone.

  She chose to ignore her advice.

  It took some doing to persuade her feet to take a step toward the platform, and a lot more doing to get them up onto the platform itself. That accomplished, Sydney took some deep breaths to calm her jiggly nerves before reaching toward the big, bulky glass doorknob.

  Which suddenly turned all on its own.

  Sydney gasped and quickly sprang into “run and hide” mode, leaping off the platform and diving behind a haphazard pile of broken doors just as the one in the frame opened. Poorly hidden as she was, she concentrated on being as still and silent as she could while watching the impossible unfold before her.

  The door opened wide, a burst of light erupted from within, and something stepped into the room.

  Which should have been impossible.

  The individual, monster, or hallucination turned back and closed the door, cutting off the burst of light. Sydney blinked a couple of times till her eyes came back into focus, and she recognized the figure on the platform.

  Aunt Gladys.

  She again wore the beekeeper’s mesh helmet and large rust-colored gloves, and she seemed to be shaking her head.

  “No,” she muttered. “Amusing, yes. Helpful? No.”

  She stepped off the platform and approached the ominous machine with its banks of chaotic bulbs and blinking lights. “I know you’re in there,” she continued, slightly louder than before. “I will find you.” Reaching the machine, she dropped her gloves onto the lone chair in front of the computers, sighed, and looked over the controls. “Right, on to the next—”

  “Aunt Gladys? Are you in here?”

  Aunt Gladys froze at the sound of Janice’s voice. Not that it mattered, but Sydney froze as well. “Don’t come in!” squealed Aunt Gladys in a panic, ripping the beekeeper’s helmet off her head and running toward the curtain.

  “Aunt Gladys?” repeated Janice. “Alexa is hurt!”

  “I’m coming!” called Aunt Gladys as she passed through the curtain. “What happened? Which one is Alexa? Is that the boy?”

  Sydney waited until her aunt’s voice faded. She knew she should probably dash out of there right away, but all she could do was sit and stare in openmouthed wonder at the large, ornate wooden door covered in sparkling blue energy in the middle of the room.

  It was beautiful.

  Alexa awoke feeling like someone had dumped a big bowl of happy juice over her head. It was dark out, so she figured it was still the middle of the night, which was just fine with her because she didn’t want this night to ever, ever end. She didn’t know what had woken her up this time, but she didn’t care because she was still glowing from the memory of the first time she’d woken up that night.

  Funny that the night would be so great so soon after almost being so terrible.

  She had been convinced she’d broken something when she’d fallen down the stairs on Janice’s door-sled. Her cries of pain had been real, loud, and well earned. Zack had held her close and rocked her as her sobs slowly turned into hiccups and then into quiet tears, and by the time Aunt Gladys got there, it already didn’t hurt as much. Under Zack’s guidance, she’d moved her ankle up and down and side to side to make sure it wasn’t broken, and they’d both checked it for blood or bits of bone sticking out at weird angles. When they didn’t find any, Zack announced that she’d just twisted it. That didn’t sound nearly as bad as shattering it into a million pieces, which was what she’d thought she’d done.

  Aunt Gladys had sort of flocked around like a confused goose until Zack suggested putting ice on Alexa’s ankle. They all went down to the kitchen (Zack carrying her) so Aunt Gladys could fill a plastic bag with ice and hold it against Alexa’s ankle. It was cold, but it didn’t hurt and it made some of the pain go away, so that was all right. Then Sydney showed up, and Zack yelled at her for taking so long to fetch Aunt Gladys, and Sydney didn’t argue or anything. That had been really strange.

  Then they’d gone to bed.

  Which was when everything became really great.

  Alexa smiled at the memory. She’d been dreaming (something about a dog with a mustache, or was it a cat?) when a gentle rocking and an even ge
ntler voice brought her to the surface.

  “Alexa? Wake up, sweetie.”

  She’d opened her eyes to find the most beautiful woman in the world leaning over her with a smile. Even though she hadn’t seen her since she was barely a year old, she knew right away who it was.

  “Mommy?”

  “That’s right, sweetie. I’m here. I’m really here,” Mommy had cooed. “It’s so good to see you.”

  “Mommy!” Alexa popped right up out of her bed and jumped into her mother’s arms. The movement had woken Ratty the Rat, who stirred fretfully in his cage in the corner of the room, but Alexa didn’t care. Mommy held her so very tightly, and Alexa felt all her worries and problems melt away. Her ankle, which had still been a little sore when she had gone to bed, didn’t hurt at all.

  “Shhhhh,” Mommy whispered. “It’s not time to get up, sweetie. I need you to do something for me, okay?”

  Alexa nodded vigorously. She would do anything for Mommy.

  “Good girl. But you can’t tell anyone that I’m here. It has to stay our little secret. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Mommy,” Alexa answered.

  “Thank you, sweetie. I knew I could count on you.” Alexa burst with pride at her mother’s praise. “What I need you to do, and this is very, very important, is to find my mother’s door. Have you seen it? Have you seen Grammy’s door?”

  Alexa squinted her eyes, confused. “Door? There’s lots of doors at Aunt Gladys’s,” she said.

  Her mother smiled patiently. “Yes, dear. But I’m looking for my mother’s. I know it’s in that house somewhere. Can you be a good girl and find it for me?”

  “You want me to find Grammy’s door?”

  “That’s right. The original door to her bedroom. It’s rather plain, but has a large number of scratches along the bottom from when Mr. Tinkles would try to get my mother to let him into her room after one of his midnight prowls.”

  “Mr. Tinkles?”

  “One of my mother’s cats. But that’s not important. Just look for the scratches, okay? Now, I don’t need you to do anything with the door when you find it. In fact, don’t touch it. Just find out where it is. I’ll come back each night so you can tell me when you find it. Will you do that for me?”

  “You’re not staying?”

  “No, sweetie. I have to go. Remember, no one else can know I’m here.”

  Alexa felt a little sad at this, but her mother gently brushed her hair out of her face and smiled. “You’ve grown so big, sweetie. Such a big girl,” she said. “I love you so much. Find the door for me. Deal?”

  Mommy stuck her hand out to shake, which made Alexa giggle. “Deal!” she squeaked before remembering to be quiet. “Deal,” she repeated, this time in a whisper.

  “Go back to bed now, sweetie. I love you. I’ll see you soon.”

  Alexa had lain back down on her bed, and her mother had tucked her Pretty Pony comforter back under her chin. She had been so excited she hadn’t thought it possible to fall back asleep, but she must have because she didn’t remember anything else until waking up this second time.

  Mommy had been here! Alexa’s wish had come true!

  Voices from Zack’s room next door (or next doorway) drifted into Alexa’s ears. That must have been what had woken her up this time. Who was he talking to? Maybe Mommy was visiting him, too!

  No, she thought. No one else knows she’s here.

  Curious and, by now, more or less awake, Alexa threw the lone sheet off and climbed out of her bedroll. She was a little surprised to find her ankle hurting again—not a lot, but it was certainly still sore. Funny how it had felt fine when her mother had woken her up earlier.

  Mommy makes everything better, she told herself.

  With a very slight limp (which she would be sure to exaggerate once she entered Zack’s room), she made her way to the doorway to find out what was going on. She stopped before getting there, however, because she realized she was still beaming from Mommy’s visit, and she didn’t want to slip up and spill the beans. She took a moment to calm down and did her best to turn her really big smile into a simple grin. Once that was done, she continued into Zack’s room, pushing all thoughts of Mommy to the back of her mind. For now.

  She was a good girl. She’d keep their secret.

  “Stop, Sydney,” pleaded Zack. “It’s bad enough you disappeared when Alexa needed you. You don’t have to make up some stupid cover story.”

  “I’m not making this up!” insisted Sydney.

  “Shhhh!” Zack put a finger to his lips. “You want to wake everybody?”

  “Yes!” exclaimed Sydney before she stopped, frowning, and added, “Well, not Aunt Gladys.”

  Zack sighed. He was bone-tired, partly from arguing with Sydney and partly from being awake at three o’clock in the morning. Which was also Sydney’s fault. She’d come down and shaken him awake with a wild story about a magic door and blue lightning and Aunt Gladys appearing out of thin air. It was all a bit much to handle at three in the morning. As much as he generally tried to be patient with her, this was pushing his limits.

  “Go back to bed,” he snapped, lying down on his bedroll and hoping she’d get the hint.

  “No!” she insisted, punching him in the gut in such a manner as to show that she had not, in fact, gotten the hint. “Get up! You have got to see this!”

  “See what?” came a little voice from the doorway.

  Brother and sister momentarily halted their skirmish as little Alexa entered the room. “Good job, Sydney,” Zack said, coating his voice with a thick layer of sarcasm. “You woke Alexa.” He was about to try to coax Alexa back into bed but stopped short after one look at his little sister’s beaming face.

  Beaming? he wondered. At this hour?

  “She’s up,” stated Sydney enthusiastically. “Now we just need to wake Janice—”

  Zack turned back to the currently-more-annoying sister. “Stop! You’re not waking Janice. You’re not sneaking into that room. You’re going back to bed.”

  “You got into the room?” asked Alexa.

  Sydney spun and zeroed in on the youngest Rothbaum. “You have to see it! There are all these machines and wires and a big door in the center of the room with this weird blue lightning all around it, and it’s a portal to another world!”

  “Come on, Sydney,” chastised Zack. “It’s not a portal to another—”

  “I wanna see! I wanna see!” chanted Alexa.

  Zack groaned as control of the situation slipped through his fingers. “No. Guys, just no. It’s the middle of the night!”

  “Which is the only time we can get in!” argued Sydney. “Aunt Gladys is asleep! This is our chance!”

  “Chance for what?” asked Janice, walking into the room.

  “Sydney got into the forbidden room, and there’s a big space door there—” began Alexa.

  “It’s not a space door!” interrupted Zack.

  “Could be a space door,” interjected Sydney.

  “What’s a space door?” asked Janice.

  “I wanna go through the space door!” cheered Alexa.

  “Everybody, stop!” yelled Zack, shoving his arms out as if to hold back the encroaching barrage of chatter. “I don’t care if it’s a space door or an interdimensional door or a door to the linen closet. It’s the middle of the night, this whole house is creepy-dangerous, and we’ll get in big trouble if Aunt Gladys catches us. What was the one rule she hammered into our heads all day?”

  “If you have to go, go in the potty,” offered Sydney.

  “Okay, yeah,” agreed Zack. “But besides that? Stay out of that room!” He folded his arms and threw his best “I’m totally serious” glare at his sisters to drive his point home.

  Alexa looked down at the ground, somehow managing to look both chastised and totally jazzed at the same time. Sydney glared right back at him but for once held her tongue. Even Janice folded her arms, which Zack hoped was a mild form of agreement.

  �
��Back to bed, people,” he finished. “This conversation is over.”

  “I agree,” said Janice.

  “Thank you,” said Zack, relieved.

  “This conversation is over,” she continued. “I’m going to go check out the room.”

  “Wait. What?” said Zack, no longer relieved.

  “I want to know what’s going on in this house if I’m gonna stay here till Dad wakes up,” she declared. “Who’s coming with?”

  Sydney and Alexa quickly ran to their big sister’s side.

  Defeat looming over him, Zack made one last attempt to reason with his sisters. “Please,” he said. “We don’t know what’s in there.”

  “Time to find out,” replied Janice.

  “It could be dangerous,” he countered.

  “It could be awesome,” she countered right back.

  With that, she turned and marched out of the room, Sydney and Alexa falling excitedly in line behind her. Zack swayed back and forth on his feet, debating with himself. He didn’t want to race after them and give Janice a victory, but he also didn’t want his sisters to go running headfirst into danger without him. What if something happened? Something he could have prevented?

  He clenched his fists, closed his eyes, growled.

  Then took off after his sisters.

  The vault door was not locked. In fact, as far as he could tell, it didn’t lock at all. By the time Zack caught up with his sisters, Sydney and Janice were pulling the massive hatch open, Alexa cheering them on with cries of “Go! Go!” like they were about to score a touchdown.

  Zack walked past everyone and stepped through the doorway before anyone even noticed he was there.

  “Hey!” burst Janice. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  Rather than answer, Zack shoved the truly nasty curtain aside and got his first look at the room. The sheer size of the place froze him in his tracks. It had to be bigger than every other room in the house combined, and what was with all the scaffolding? His eyes swept around the walls, taking in the piles of broken and shattered wooden doors, the weird weblike glass skylight, the strange bank of what looked to be really old computers—basically every detail of the room except for the big, fancy door standing in the center, which he was doing his very best to ignore.