Across the Street From What
Two boys sneak into a construction site with some very twisted architecture.
Jack had been watching them work on the house for well over a year now. After all this time, it was still a wooden frame over a plywood shell on top of a short concrete wall. Jack and his friend Oscar used to watch the construction workers from Jack's window, and wonder how it could take so long to build a house.
They weren’t always construction workers, either. Sometimes they wore lab coats, or gas masks, or even hazmat suits.
And now, in the middle of an otherwise normal Friday night in Spring, Jack and Oscar stood in front of that house, huddled behind a Port-a-Potty, about to sneak in.
"This is a terrible idea," Jack said, adjusting his coat. Enough of winter still blew through the air that he needed to bundle up.
"It's your idea," Oscar said.
That made it even worse. Just moments ago they were safe indoors, talking about the girls in their seventh-grade class. Jack began to worry that Leona Alter would come up, and Oscar would then spend the rest of the night making fun of him for liking her, so Jack changed the subject to the unfinished house.
In no time, the two had wound up daring each other to go in, find a way to the upper level, and take a picture of Jack's house from there. They hadn't seen as many hazmat guys lately, so it seemed like it should be safe.
Total darkness waited behind the window frames, enough that Jack wondered if the flashlight on his cell phone would even be enough. Yet he still had to admit, he was definitely curious about this place. It was his idea.
And he couldn't stop shaking.
"Well?" Oscar said. "We going in?"
A quick dash, and they slipped over a short concrete wall through a gap in the boards into what might one day be a crawl space. There wasn't even a floor in this section yet, just exposed ground surrounded by the concrete wall and the wooden frames of the house. Oscar hid himself in a shadow, and Jack followed. Here they could hardly see each other, much less anything else.
Oscar fiddled with his phone, and turned on the flashlight. Jack turned his on as well, and they made sure they could see each other. Oscar held the light below his face, and wiggled his fingers. "O-o-o-o-o-o-ooo. Jaaaaaaack… I've come for your soul."
"Quit it." Jack shoved him in the shoulder. "We shouldn't stay too long in one place."
They waved their lights around, checking all the corners, until they found a doorway, which was a bare doorjamb on top of the concrete wall. The floor began behind it.
A quick game of Rock-Scissors-Paper decided Jack should go first. Trembling, he crawled onto the floor, scanned the room with his flashlight, and waved for Oscar to come up.
They checked around again. The floor was long and narrow, with a couple other doors to the side. "I guess this is gonna be a hallway?" Jack said. The plywood walls thankfully obscured them from any potential onlookers across the street. "It's gonna be a nice place whenever they're finished with it."
"We're not here to househunt, you dink." Oscar pointed his light down to the end of the hall. "That way."
They stood and crept through into a larger room.
"Maybe they haven't built a way up yet," Jack said, part of him hoping they hadn't.
"There's bound to be one," Oscar said. "Construction workers gotta get up there somehow."
Jack wandered toward the window. Something about the view gave him a weird feeling. Were those trees supposed to be there?Â
"Maybe there's a ladder?" Oscar said behind him.
"Hey, Oscar, take a look at this." Jack pointed outside. "Does that look right to you?"
"I dunno," Oscar said. "I see some trees, but—"
"Oscar, these are the woods behind this house. Shouldn't we be seeing my house from here?"
Oscar looked back down the hallway, toward where they'd originally entered. "You're right. How're we facing the wrong way?" He turned to the door behind them. "What do you think's going on?"
"Beats the heck out of me. You wanna keep going?"
"Yeah. Come on, maybe there's more."
Jack lagged behind him into the next room. It was full of open space, with lamps clipped onto the studs and insulation packed between them. At first nothing seemed too remarkable, until Jack ran the flashlight over the doorway they'd just entered, and found two more doors on each side of it.
"That can't be right," Jack said. "There weren't any other doors on that side. Were there?" He stepped toward the door on the left. "There's gotta be a reason."
"Hang on." Oscar grabbed his shoulder. "This is getting weird. You sure that's a good idea?"
"What are you talking about? This was your idea in the first place."
"Bull, it was yours!"
"It was a joke! I didn't think we'd actually do this!"
"Oh, now you tell me. Well, I was joking, too!"
"You wanna turn back?" Jack said.
Oscar stiffened his back and straightened his shoulders. "No."
"You wanna help me look for clues?"
"Yes."
"Rock-paper-scissors for the next door?"
Oscar won, after three ties. He chose the door on the left, and stood there for a moment holding his hand over the knob. "We don't know what could be in here, you know. A place like this? Could be anything."
"Any time this century."
Oscar scowled at Jack as he very slowly pulled the door open.
Why was Oscar was so unenthused all of a sudden? He was usually the one who jumped right in, and refused to stop until he was done, whether it was a dangerous skateboard stunt or some weird new food. This place should have been right up his alley.
The room they entered was even more finished than the last. The drywall had been put up, and a light bulb glowed overhead, so the boys no longer needed their flashlights. There were four doors, two each on the left and right.
Jack turned and raised his arms for another rock-paper-scissors game. He never expected this house to be so exciting.
"Let's just pick a door and go!" Oscar said. "That one." He pointed at the one on the far right.
"That's the Oscar I know." To think, before they entered, Jack had been more worried about a neighbor calling the cops, or a vagrant offering heroin, or raccoons attacking with rabies. But this house, with all its rooms wrapped around each other, was like a puzzle teasing him with the solution.
When they reached the door, Oscar said, "You know, all that talk about girls, and you never said who you like."
Jack froze with his hand on the knob. "Huh?"
"Yeah, you know, like like. So who is it? You can tell me."
"You're stalling."
"No way. I'm just looking for closure, dude."
"You can't keep a secret, though. You're the one who told Iggy and Dave about that time I puked in your kitchen sink."
"How could I not share that? Look, on this, I swear you can trust me. So who is it?"
Goosebumps prickled all over Jack's arms. Now he was the one who needed to stall. "You first."
"Sure, that's easy. Tia Ocampo."
Jack let go of the doorknob. "Who?"
"Yeah, you don't know her. She's this girl I met at camp last summer. She's so gorgeous—she's in eighth grade and her hair's all sandy red and she smells like lavender all the time, and I got to kiss her."
"No way." Jack stared. "You never told me."
"I thought you'd make fun of me for mooning over some girl I knew for a week. Now do you believe I can keep a secret?"
Jack sighed. Oscar knew how to make a point. "In that case—"
The boards above them creaked. Jack's throat clamped shut. Oscar hunched over with gnarled arms as if someone had yelled in his ear.
The creaks wandered from one corner to another.
"You think they heard us?" Oscar whispered.
"I hope not," Jack said. "We know this place is twisted around. Who knows, maybe they're actually downstairs."
"What if they catch us? You think we can get away from 'em?"
Jack put his hand back on the knob, turned it, and pulled the door open as slow as he possibly could. A mystery was one thing. Whoever—or whatever—was upstairs was something else entirely. All these doors—all these paths—would Jack and Oscar even be able to find their way out?
"So we keep going?" Oscar said.
Jack took a deep breath. If they turned back, they might be able to retrace their steps and leave. "I dunno. I'm about ready to call off the dare. You?"
Before Oscar could answer, the footsteps started up again.
Jack and Oscar ran through the door. Moving was at least better than standing still.
The next room, with even more doors, was the most complete they'd seen yet. Walls were painted, a few chairs were set up, and they could hear the soft drone of an air conditioner nearby.
"Man, what gives?" Jack muttered. "Do they just suck the rooms in as soon as they're done and keep building on the outside?"
The floorboards creaked again, this time from behind one of the doors.
A knob rattled.
Oscar opened a door, and Jack rushed in with him.
They eased the door until there was just a sliver of an opening to peek through. Oscar stayed behind Jack, squeezing his hand, while Jack watched.
Through the gap, he could see a tall man in a green jumpsuit, a bandana, and a gas mask. He looked around, as if searching for something.
As if searching for intruders.
Of course! Why would that guy be the only one making noise on the floorboards? Jack and Oscar had been stomping around so much it was a wonder they weren't caught already. Neither of them had ever tried to sneak in anywhere, and Oscar himself barely knew the meaning of "quiet."
The man outside relaxed his shoulders and walked across the room. At first Jack tensed up and whimpered, half from terror and half from Oscar squeezing his hand. The guy could probably choke a gorilla if he wanted to.
But the man went into the room next door. Jack stayed put, waited for the footsteps to fade off into the distance.
"I think he's gone now. Can you please let go?"
Oscar released his hand. Jack stretched it out, then lit up his phone, searched around, and found a light switch.
He got a look at Oscar. "Oh god, are you okay?"
Oscar's face was covered in sweat, and his brows were all wrinkles. His breath was short and fast. "No. You think I don't get frightened? I'm scared pretty stupid right now!"
"But you're the one who's always—"
"Yeah, because sometimes it's fun to be scared and do it anyway. But this is different. Heck, I only dared you to come along because I didn't want to go alone."
"I didn't realize." Jack could still feel the ache in his hand. "I told you, it was a joke."
"So why did you come here?"
Jack's head sank. "I didn't want you to think I was a wimp." And he would never think Oscar was a wimp. If anything, he was the only one Jack knew who could embody the saying, The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. "I'm sorry I dared you out here."
"I'm sorry I dared you." Oscar smirked. "I can't believe you got so caught up in this."
"I just had to know more. You gotta admit, it's pretty cool that there's a place like this right across the street. I guess I just got more curious than scared."
Oscar laughed, then shoved his hand over his mouth. The man in the gas mask might hear. "Sorry. It's just, I know what that's like. I figure if I let fear get to me, I'll never find out what I'm missing. How do you think I got Tia to kiss me?"
"Got me there." Jack chuckled softly. "Leona Alter. That's who I like. Leona Alter." Jack's heart made a gymnast's leap at the sound of her name on his tongue.
Oscar snickered.
"What?" Jack said.
"Nothing, it's just… her?"
"What about her?"
"Nothing, nothing, whatever floats your boat."
"I didn't ask what you thought."
"Let's just get out of here first." He looked around. "Where are we, anyway?"
"Some kind of office." Jack craned his neck for a look around. There were bland inspirational posters, a bookcase that was mostly empty except for one shelf, and a large kidney-shaped desk in the corner. There were papers stacked on top. "Maybe these are clues."
Oscar dropped into the chair behind the desk.
Jack picked up a stack of papers, and read the letterhead. "Waverly Energy Company…" He looked up at Oscar. "Doesn't your dad work there?"
"He does maintenance. What do they have to do with this place? Anything in those papers?"
"I dunno. Here's a memo…" Most of the language was thick and dry, but some key words and phrases jumped out. "Whoa… 'Particle accelerator'—'malfunction'—'cracks'—'twists in the spacetime continuum'?"
He and Oscar stared at each other.
Jack read on. "'We continue to monitor warps that have been detected on ground level. By surrounding them with unassuming construction projects, we hope to avoid detection and minimize harm as we research the matter further. As yet, a solution eludes us.'"
"My dad never mentioned a particle accelerator. Not sure he even knows what that is. Come to think of it, I don't think I know, either. Does it say where it is?"
"Can't tell. These warps sound like wormholes, like in outer space. It could be anywhere. But I guess Waverly's trying to fix it, so… yay?"
"So that guy we saw… crap, he's coming back!"
Jack heard the footsteps, too. The creaks in the floor moved away from the room next door, toward the office.
Jack ran around the desk, and squatted behind it with Oscar.
The door swung open, creaking slightly on the hinge.
A muffled voice said. "Hello?" A footstep inside. "Helloooo. I know you're in here."
Jack shivered. Oscar shivered even harder. Jack threw his arm around him and held him down.
The man in the gas mask said, "Guess Dr. Otsuka left the light on again."
The lights went out. The door clicked shut. The boys sat and trembled in utter darkness, even deeper than when they'd first come in. The footsteps faded down the hall. A door opened and shut.
"Scary," Jack said.
"Scary," Oscar said. He turned on his phone's flashlight and pointed it at Jack's face. The beam wouldn't stop shaking. "Where to next?"
Jack blinked. "Wherever that guy went before he came in here."
"Lead the way."
The two crossed the room with their flashlights out. Jack cracked the door open. The light on the other side was still on. He and Oscar slipped through and sidled over to the open door on the side. They wound up in a white corridor, with only a single door at the end. A sign hung on it. It read
AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY
Must Have I.D. Card to Enter
"I.D. Card?" Jack looked at Oscar. "Now what?"
"Look," Oscar said. "Mr. Gasmask left it open." He pointed at the lock, with the bolt extending outside the door.
"What if he comes back?"
"Not like we'll find anything if we run," Oscar said.
Jack smirked. "Guess a quick peek won't hurt."
So they tiptoed to the door. Jack held it out for Oscar, then followed him in.
He bumped into Oscar, nearly knocking them both over. Oscar stood transfixed, and Jack looked to see.
They were in an octagonal chamber, lit with fluorescent lights. In the center, directly in front of the two boys, was empty space.
Only… it wasn't quite empty.
Looking at it was even more disorienting for Jack than seeing the wrong view out the window. On the lower part of the empty space, the floor seemed to keep on going, and not just from one, but from every direction. The same effect twisted up the ceiling. It constantly moved, despite being totally still.
Jack felt as if the room were spinning all around him. His stomach clenched. "Ugh."
"So I guess that's what a 'twist' looks like?" Oscar muttered.
"Yeah…" Jack turned away. Immediately the dizziness faded. He leaned on the doorpost, forcing back the pizza he and Oscar had for dinner.
"You okay, man?" Oscar said.
"Better now," Jack said. "I've seen enough."
Oscar checked back at the twist. "Yeah, same here. Just don't spew, okay?"
"I told you, I'm fine."
"I'm just saying, whoever's got tech bad enough to make that, you don't want 'em looking through your puke."
"Honest, I'm fine. Let's find a way out of here."
They headed back through the corridor, only to hear a voice just as they reached the end. "Did I leave that open?"
The boys didn't have time to stop or turn around. They burst out the door, and came face to face with the man in the gas mask, now carrying a clipboard and a pen.
"What the—?" he said.
Oscar yelled, "RUN!"
They dashed around him, one on each side, leaving him stunned as they ran across the room. The door across from Dr. Otsuka's office hung open, so they went through there.
A heavier draft blew around them, and a softer light glowed. The new hallway they entered was much less finished than the room they had just left. Now they were once again among scaffolding, plywood, and open air.
They checked door after door, finding only more rooms and more winding hallways, tables covered with blueprints and schematics, windows in every possible direction.
Finally they found an open sky full of stars.
Jack looked through the frames. "That's my house! We're back outside!"
"Perfect." Oscar held his phone out.
"What are you doing?"
"You dared me to take a picture." The phone went click. "And now I have."
"Who cares, let's go! He's right behind us." Jack looked around. "Over there, stairs!"
They rushed out just as the door swung open and Mr. Gasmask stomped out. Sawdust kicked up with every impact of the boys' feet on the stairs. At the bottom, they ran down a wood ramp to get to the bare ground outside the house.
They ran as fast as they could behind the port-a-potty and flattened themselves against the plastic wall.
Jack peeked around the corner.
Mr. Gasmask stood at the foot of the stairs. He hadn't bothered to leave the house. He pulled up his mask, took out his phone, and placed a call.
Jack couldn't hear all of it. Just a few fragments.
"Breach at a construction site… just some neighborhood kids. Wouldn't waste my time. Nobody'd believe them anyway."
The last thing Mr. Gasmask said rang loud and clear, at least to Jack.
"And by the way, Dr. Otsuka, please remember to lock up your office."
He headed back upstairs, and disappeared into the doorway.
"He's gone," Jack said. "And he told them not to look for us."
Oscar exhaled, and slid down against the door. "I thought we were dead for sure."
"Know what's funny?" Jack said. "From this far away, he kinda sounded like your dad."
Oscar laughed. "Yeah, right. I told you, dude. He's just maintenance. The man fixes light bulbs. No way he's involved in spacetime anything."
"You never know. Maybe it's just a cover story."
"C'mon, like he can keep a secret," Oscar said. "You know how I am." He thumbed through his phone. "At least I got a picture."
"Heh, yeah, good job. Too bad we didn't get anything of that twist."
"Probably would have busted our phones." Oscar rubbed the sweat off his forehead. "I've never been more scared in my life."
"Fun, huh?"
"You have no idea. Ready to go?"
"Sure, just give me a minute." Jack stepped around the corner of the port-a-potty.
"You cannot seriously want to go back—"
"I gotta take a leak."
"Oh. Okay." Oscar glanced across the road. "Uh oh. Sure you gotta go that bad?"
Jack saw his mother's silhouette walking under the porch light in front of his house. "Aw, crap." He squirmed and twisted his head toward the mass of lumber and plywood. "Think Mr. Gasmask needs any help in there?"
"Now who's scared?" Oscar said.