Beyond: Snillotia Trilogy Book One by Donna Wagner (books you have to read TXT) 📕

to attempt to do our English assignment tonight. I want to be able to come up with my “ending” to the story before reading any of your mom’s notes.”

“If we find anything in that locker,” Tim paused, “I can go by myself if you don’t want to come with me. It’s okay.”

“No! I want to come!”

“Okay. I don’t want to cause any problems between you and Jason, that’s all.”

Anna grimaced, slightly. “I don’t know how much longer there is going to be a me and Jason, honestly. He’s been acting so different lately. It’s like he’s changed.”

“Not that I like the guy, but I’ve got to point out that he’s always acted this way to everyone but you and Evan. Plus, you have changed too. With your powers developing and the fact that you actually acknowledge my presence now,” he added, jokingly, “Jason must think the same thing about you.”

Anna was quiet and Tim thought maybe he’d said too much. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I’m being too hard on him.”

“Not that I want you to start ignoring me again!”

Anna smiled and responded in his mind. Never.

“Anna! Tim! Dinner’s ready!” they heard Peter calling.

“Let’s go eat, so we can go search for that laptop!”

“Wait!” Tim said, as they were leaving the room. “Evan’s gay?”

Anna rolled her eyes at how oblivious Tim was about certain things. “Yeah, he and Ollie- Oops!”

“Ollie? Oliver Nichols?”

“I wasn’t supposed to say anything. Ollie hasn’t told anyone yet. He’s afraid of how his mom will react. I only know because Evan was upset that he can’t tell anyone that they’re dating.”

“Oh,” Tim didn’t know what else to say and they’d reach the dining room.

At dinner, everyone was talking about Fey. All the women thought she was just the cutest thing they’d ever seen. Overall everyone was very relieved their rooms could remain. Tim didn’t talk much, as he wanted to finish eating as quickly as possible, but he told himself that as relieved as he was to have a living connection to Snillotia again, he was still worried about Goldie. He meant what he’d told Fey. Goldie was his friend and he was determined to find out what had happened to her.

As soon as he was finished eating, he looked at Anna and saw that her plate was clear, as well. Ready?

Anna looked at him and nodded. They both quietly left the table. Tim nodded to Adam as he left the room. He was grateful they were escaping unnoticed. The grandparents were wonderful, but he didn’t feel like having a group discussion about looking through his parents’ things. He knew his mother’s parents would want to see everything eventually, but Tim wanted this time alone first. He knew Anna would be respectful of that.

Tim grabbed the keys off the hook by the door and pulled up the gps app on his phone. It was only a 15-minute drive. As they pulled out of the driveway, Tim felt a heaviness settle on his chest. Anna left him to his thoughts as he drove and before he knew it, they were at the storage facility.

After a few minutes, they found the right locker. Tim pulled the key from around his neck; however, before he could unlock the door Anna stopped him. “Look!”

There were scratches all around the lock and it looked like someone had tried to use a crow bar to get the door open. “We should tell the man at the front desk. This looks fresh.”

Tim agreed. As they reached the front desk, they saw a police officer walk through the door. The desk clerk saw them standing there and asked the officer to wait a moment. “I just wanted to let you know that it looks like someone tried to break into my storage locker. I don’t know if they got in or not. I stopped as soon as I saw the marks.”

The police officer overheard what Tim was saying. “That’s why I’m here, son. I’m Officer Abbott.”

Tim looked at the officer, warily. “No offense, but how did you know to come, if I just discovered it five minutes ago?”

“I saw someone sneaking around on the cameras about an hour ago, trying to get into different lockers. I called the cops as a precaution.”

“Oh.”

“Well son, since your here, let’s start at your locker. I’ll take a look at the marks and then you can open it and tell me if you think anything’s missing,” said Officer Abbott.

He followed Tim and Anna back to Tim’s locker. When they reached the door, the officer motioned for them to stand aside. He shined his flashlight on the lock. “Yes, this definitely has been tampered with.”

Anna looked at Tim and rolled her eyes. Officer Abbott continued inspecting the door. “It doesn’t open, so it appears to still be locked. Can I have your key?”

Tim handed him the key. Officer Abbott unlocked the door and pulled it open. He handed Tim the key back. “Please check and see if you notice anything missing.”

Tim just nodded, not bothering to explain that he’d never been in there before, so he technically wouldn’t know if anything was missing. He spotted his mom’s messenger bag on top of one of the boxes. He checked inside, quickly. There was a laptop in the bag. “It looks like everything’s here.”

Officer Abbott nodded. “I’ll note that in our records. Have a good evening.”

After the officer left, Anna relaxed. “I can’t believe you found your mom’s laptop that quickly!”

Tim opened the bag again and pulled out the laptop. He tried to turn it on, but of course the battery was dead. He reached into the bag again, but his hand came out empty. “Laptop, yes. Power cord, no.” They looked through a few of the boxes and couldn’t find the power cable.

“Of course, it’s not that easy. We’ll have to order a replacement online and hope the laptop even still turns on. It’s old and it’s sat for a few years without being touched!” Tim said.

“Let’s go. I’m still a