Earlier that morning, it hadn’t been the sound of his phone’s alarm that had woken Jake up, but the sound of an incoming call. After his grandmother had gone missing, he hadn’t silenced his phone once. An update from the police or a call from her, he wasn’t going to let himself miss either.
He picked up the phone and took a quick glance at the caller ID. His eyes shot wide open. It was an incoming call from his grandmother’s phone number.
“Hello?” he said, quickly answering the call.
The voice that responded did not belong to his grandmother. It was deep and very clearly warped to hide the caller’s identity.
“If you want to see your grandmother again, listen carefully,” the stranger said. “Don’t tell anyone that you received this call. Today, when you go to work, you’ll be clearing out a certain apartment within a vacated apartment building. That apartment’s number will be 305. Within that apartment, you will find a black box. If you want to find your grandmother, you will follow the instructions you find within the box as soon as possible. Do you understand?”
So badly, Jake wanted to ask what they had done with his grandmother, yet held himself back. He was scared. Not for himself, but for her and what these people would do to her if he didn’t speak on their terms.
“Do you understand?”
“Apartment 305, black box, follow the instructions,” Jake said.
“Yes.”
“I understand.”
Jake’s phone alarm immediately started buzzing in his ear. He pulled the phone away and turned it off. Whoever was on the other line had ended the call with perfect timing.
He checked the call history on his phone. When he looked at the latest call, it wasn’t from his grandmother like the caller ID had said. It was just 305.
That was why, when they found black box in the safe, Jake couldn’t help but stare. If focused eyes could have burned through objects then Jake’s gaze would have set the entire apartment ablaze.
How had his grandmother gotten involved in this? Jake couldn’t help but wonder that as Evelynn continued reading the note.
“I left you some simple instructions at the bottom of the box. Follow them immediately and you should end up where you need to be.”
Ernie clicked his tongue. “Let’s get back to work,” he said, heading over to the master bathroom for a quick inspection. He was here for one thing alone and that was a paycheck. Hidden notes from a dead old loon were something he couldn’t care less about.
Evelynn replaced the note and put the lid back on the box. I can take the box later, Jake reasoned to himself. They’d be boxing and clearing out the place at least until noon. He’d have plenty of opportunities to take the box aside and look at the instructions held within throughout the morning.
With the intention of retrieving a few boxes from the truck, the trio headed back out of the master bedroom. Before they could even make it to the front door of the apartment, however, Ernie got a call.
He muttered something upon seeing the caller ID. “Give me a minute. I’ve got to take this.” Walking out into the hallway, he answered the call. Jake and Evelynn didn't listen in on what was being said, but they definitely heard the door to the stairwell slam as he exited the building's third floor.
“Should we get started?” Evelynn asked.
Jake found himself amused with the ‘we’ in that statement. “You want to help?”
She shrugged. “If it means we get to get out of here faster.”
Usually, Jake would have appreciated that attitude from a client, but today he had other ideas. “You don’t want to finish looking through that box in the safe?” he asked.
She gestured towards the front door. “Do we have time to finish looking through it?”
Knowing Ernie…
Jake smiled. “Trust me, we’ll have plenty of time.”
Evelynn couldn’t take him seriously. “You said it like we’re about to rob a bank or something.”
“You know, I’ve been looking for a good getaway driver.”
Evelynn held back a chuckle. “What’s your name again?” she asked.
“Jake.”
With a mischievous smile of her own, she extended him a hand. “Happy to be your partner-in-crime, Jake.”
“Likewise.” He shook her hand.
She started coughing up a storm as soon as he let go. “You okay?” he asked, somewhat worried.
“I just need my inhaler,” Evelynn managed to get out between coughs. She headed back to where she’d left her purse on the dining table. Jake watched her as she took another breath of the blue compound held within.
“You have asthma?” he asked once she had finished.
She made a face, choking down her medicine as she tried to respond. “Something like that. Life’s a little harder when the air is poison, you know?” she joked.
Jake didn’t know, but he was glad she could take her situation in stride.
Evelynn started heading back to the master bedroom. “Let’s get this started.”
They took the black box back out from the gun safe and placed it upon the kitchen counter. The anticipation built up within Jake as they laid out its contents. Along with the note placed on top and the container holding the black bands, there were two more containers inside the box. The second container held three pairs of sunglasses and the third container held three sets of four small black cubes. Both containers were missing their fourth piece.
Just as the note had stated, there was a note with instructions laid at the bottom of the box.
Evelynn picked it up and read aloud. “If you want the truth, I’ll keep it simple. Put on one of the black bands, put on one of the pairs of glasses, step into the other bedroom, and make sure you bring your gun with you before you enter.”
“Left everything we need in the box except a gun,” Jake said.
Evelynn placed a hand on his shoulder. “You’ll be a good enough replacement, right?”
“Sure, just let me just turn on the superpowers.”
Evelynn appeared to find that joke amusing enough. “Who do you think he left the instructions for?” she asked, placing down the instructions and putting on one of the black bands.
Jake shrugged, slipping on a band of his own. “Someone we don’t know or someone who doesn’t exist.” Even though he had gotten that call this morning, it didn’t look like the old man had left it specifically for him. “It’s kind of hard to predict when the guy had issues.”
Evelynn put on a pair of the sunglasses then turned to Jake. “How do I look?”
“Like you’re wearing sunglasses indoors,” he said. If she wanted compliments she'd have to wine and dine him first.
Metallic bands placed on their wrists and glasses hooked behind their ears, they returned to the hallway leading to the bedrooms and approached the smaller room.
[Admin Override Activated]
Dimensional Crossing Enabled
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
The words appeared before Jake’s eyes and the tint of his sunglasses faded from black to fully transparent. An impressive feat, but not nearly as impressive as what he saw beyond the smaller bedroom’s doorway. The early morning sunlight bleeding into the room from the window had disappeared, replaced by a dull blue night’s shadow and a bright moonlight.
Compared to the technology currently available on the market, this was a pretty impressive outcome.
You may now step through the portal.
“This is actually pretty amazing,” Evelynn said, staring into the room.
Jake agreed. “Yeah, this is really good VR.” Looking through that doorway was like looking into a mirror world. There must have been something hidden within the projection. That had to be why he had received the call that morning. “I wonder where the strangers dressed in shadow are,” he said.
Evelynn gave him an odd look. “The strangers dressed in what?”
“Mr. Singleton wrote a note about seeing strangers dressed in shadow,” he clarified. He couldn’t help but wonder if these glasses had tricked the old man into believing that they were real.
The sound of the stairwell door shutting rang out in the hallway outside the apartment. It appeared Ernie had finished his call earlier than expected.
“Plenty of time, huh?” Evelynn said, gently elbowing Jake.
Jake shrugged. Well, that was fast, he thought. He took a moment to think over if they should hide this from Ernie or not and decided not to bother with it. Hiding this from Ernie would be hard and he wanted to get started investigating right away. Plus, whoever had called him that morning had only told him to keep the call secret, not this. “Hey, Ernie, come check this out,” he called to his co-worker.
“I’m going to take a step in,” Evelynn said, walking into the bedroom.
“Tell me what it’s like on the other side,” Jake joked, staying put outside of the room in the hallway.
Evelynn strutted through the door, spun back around to face him, spread her arms, and said, “Tada!”
Or at least, that’s what it looked like she was saying to Jake. He hadn’t heard a thing. As soon as she crossed that door it was like he was watching a silent movie in color.
“That’s a really good mime routine,” he said, humoring her.
“Huh?” Evelynn mimed. She looked genuinely confused.
“Come on, stop playing around.”
She didn’t. “What are you doing?” she appeared to mouthed.
“You’re not going to convince me you can’t actually talk.” He turned to the front door. “Ernie?” Still no response. Jake listened for footsteps, but didn’t hear anything. “Guess he’s not here.” He must have doubled back into the stairwell instead of entering the hall.
He turned his gaze back to Evelynn who looked to be still playing mime. “If I take off the glasses will you stop,” he asked with playful frustration as he lifted the now transparent shades. In an instant, their dark tint returned to them. Just like the adjustment when he put them on, however, that wasn’t what was impressive. What was impressive was that Evelynn had disappeared with the projection.
Jake was shaken. He felt a chill run down his spine from what he had just seen. Or so what he hadn’t seen.
He put back on the sunglasses. The black tint disappeared and the nightshaded projection returned along with Evelynn. She was currently sitting on the bed, mouthing something he couldn’t understand with a smirk. “No way…” he muttered to himself. He had assumed it was a projection, but unless he had suddenly gone crazy, what he was seeing was real.
Still standing in front of the bedroom, he heard someone walk in through the front door. “Ernie,” he assumed, “You need to see this right now.”
It wasn’t Ernie.
“You’ve got the wrong man,” a stranger said.
Jake turned towards the front door. Standing by the apartment’s entrance was an old man, the one he’d seen in the portrait wearing the military uniform, the one who was supposed to be dead. Howard F. Singleton had just walked into the apartment and he was holding a gun.
“Looks like you’ve got the wrong apartment too,” Singleton said.
Evelynn walked back through the bedroom’s door and the portal into the hallway. “Okay, I’m out. You can stop ignoring me n—” She froze upon sight of the old man carrying a rifle. He was of a particular type. The type of old man that had a permanently displeased look upon his face like the world had done him some great wrong. The type that tended to have the big angry dogs chained up and ready to maul someone for taking one wrong step on their property.
“You two might want to start explaining yourselves.”
Jake put himself in between Mr. Singleton and Evelynn and slowly raised his hands. It took a few seconds for him to think of what he should say. “I think that there’s been some kind of misunderstanding. We were told the tenant for this apartment had passed away.”
“Who sent you two here?” Singleton asked. There was a darkness held at bay within his tone.
Jake didn’t dare to bring up the phone call. “The new landlords hired us to move your things out,” he said. He doubted saying they’d be throwing most of his possessions in the dump would be a wise idea either.
Singleton’s eyes were set on Evelynn. “They hired the two of you?” Obviously, the dress shirt and that skirt sitting just above her knees wasn’t screaming blue-collar worker.
“They hired me and my co-worker. She’s here to supervise us and he’s busy taking a call.”
Mr. Singleton gave a quick eye to the front door.
“Our truck is parked out in the back.”
His eyes returned to them. “Anyone else?”
Jake shook his head. “No, Sir.”
“Anyone else who knows that you’re here?”
Jake paused. He didn’t like the feeling he was getting hearing that question from the man. “Dispatch for the company we work at,” he decided to admit, “the people who hired us too, and maybe whoever is calling Ernie.”
Singleton didn’t immediately respond. He seemed to be contemplating something.
Jake spoke as calmly as he could manage. “She’s got the notice for the appointment on her phone.” He pointed a thumb back towards Evelynn. “I can call dispatch if you want.”
Mr. Singleton leveled his rifle as Jake reached for his pocket. “That won’t be necessary.”
Jake raised his hand back up slowly. Whatever it took to deescalate the situation. “Look. Honestly, we don’t know what’s going on that they decided to call us over here. We haven’t started moving anything out yet. If you want, we can just walk out of here and tell dispatch that the job was canceled.”
Singleton stared sharply at Jake from behind the barrel of his gun. “That’s a nice band you’ve got on your wrist there,” he said, having looked him up and down. “Nice pair of shades too.”
Jake’s heart sank at the mention. “I—”
“Where’d you get them?”
Jake hesitated. His eyes were naturally drawn to Singleton’s own unadorned wrists. An idea registered in his mind like a whisper in his ear. He can’t cross the portal.
“From the gun safe,” Jake finally answered. He shook his head. “Please. We didn’t know what we were doing. We didn’t mean to get involved with all of this. We’ll put it all back. At this point, we just want to get out of here.”
There was an unbearable silence that followed that statement. For a second, Mr. Singleton lowered his gun and it looked like everything was going to turn out okay. Then the old man thought twice.
Singleton scrunched his face. He was struggling with the choice he was about to make. Looking Jake straight in the eye, he told him the bad news. “Sorry, kid. I can’t trust you and I can’t afford to let—”
Jake grabbed Evelynn’s arm and jumped through the doorway to his side as Singleton rushed to level his gun again. He heard half the gunshot before it went silent as his head crossed through the portal between the two dimensions. He let go of the breath he was holding. Feet thumping against the room’s carpeted floor, he spun around and faced Evelynn.
“Did you get hit?” he asked, looking her up and down.
“No,” she said. She appeared to be just as disturbed as he was about what had just occurred.
“Good. Get against the wall, okay?” He pointed to the wall beside the doorway. Singleton wouldn’t be able to see her there coming from the entrance.
As soon as she turned her head, Jake was darting for the dresser. A quick glance given to the doorway, he ripped open the drawers in search of something that could be used as a weapon. “Come on, scissors,” he muttered. “Something sharp.” Singleton hadn’t had one of the black bands on or a pair of the sunglasses to cross the portal in the doorway, but Jake didn’t think that would be the case for long. He’d come for them and before that happened, he needed a weapon to surprise him with.
[Candidate Accepted]
Adjusting Instance…
The door to the room slammed shut and Jake turned around. As swift as a breath, the door and its frame shrunk into oblivion along with the portal between dimensions, trapping Evelynn and him inside. “Oh no…” Jake muttered under his breath.
Evelynn turned to him and he turned towards the window. Leaving the drawers hanging open, he walked up and opened the blinds. As expected for an apartment on the third floor, there was an over twenty foot drop leading down into a night draped city below.
“Do you have a signal?” Evelynn asked him. Jake took note that she had her phone out and took out his own in turn.
“No signal,” he said before placing it back in his pocket. He’d have called Ernie to warn him if that wasn’t the case. He clenched his teeth at the thought of Singleton coming after his co-worker. The thought of what he’d do to Evelynn and him now that they were as good as captured wasn’t too pleasant either.
He sighed. What had they gotten themselves into? What had Singleton gotten himself into that he felt the need to shoot them?
[Adjustment Completed]
“Jake.” Evelynn pointed at the bed to his side. He looked over his shoulder then jumped back. A cloaked figure had appeared sitting upon the bedside and she was looking straight at him. She was beautiful or at least, that was the impression he was getting from looking in her direction. Oddly enough, he got the feeling that if she were to vanish, the only thing he’d remember about her appearance was the hood and cloak.
“Sorry, if the door’s disappearance alarmed you,” she said. Her smile widened as she watched Jake step back towards the dresser’s open drawers. “Same for my appearance as well.”
It looked like she was waiting for him to say something in response after that, but he refrained.
“Don’t act so afraid,” she said. “I mostly sent the door away to prevent anyone who might have been tailing you from entering. Showing you the consequences of your curiosity was only a secondary pursuit.”
So it had been her, and not Singleton, who had trapped them in here. “Who are you?” Jake dared to ask.
Immediately, the smile disappeared from the hooded woman’s face. “That’s odd.” She crossed her arms. “I thought by now I would have already told you to call me your ally.”