Life Lines

27: Are We There Yet?

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Logios walked over and grabbed me by the arm, hauling me out of the room before I could say any sort of objection. I found myself standing in front of the closet in the guestroom with Logios about to open it.

"What are you doing?"

Jesse and Cecil followed after us, not saying a word. Both of them had different looks on their faces when I looked over my shoulder at them. Cecil looked concerned, worried even. Jesse just looked a little annoyed.

"What..."

I looked back around when I heard the closet door swing open. Instead of seeing winter coats, old golf clubs, skates, and the bin for the Christmas decorations, there was something else entirely.

It was a totally separate room.

I don't remember there being a separate room back there. In fact I was sure the back of the closet shared a wall with the bathroom. What I was seeing definitely wasn't the bathroom. There was no sky blue tile for one or the dirty towels I'd spotted on the floor the night before. Logios released my arm as I stood there in amazement.

"What...is that?"

"It's a doorway, Tally." Cecil stepped up and took my hand. Surprisingly, I let him. "We need to go through it."

"Please tell me this isn't some sort of Narnia knock off? I'm dreaming, right? Maybe hallucinating? Whatever Wilson gave me..."

Logios sighed and rolled his eyes. "I remember now why I like the younger ones better. The imagination is more vast and creative. Time to go."

"No," I chuckled nervously. "There is no way I'm going into...a closet with the three of you. I don't even like any of you."

"Now that's not true." Logios raised an eyebrow, the mischievous smile back on his face. "But there's no time to go over that or past incidents so..."

He walked behind me and pushed me in the direction of the doorway.

"Get a move on. You heard Henri, we don't have all day."

I took my hand back from Cecil and planted both of them on either side of the doorway. "No. No way!"

The room filled with irritation but I wasn't going to do it. This was some weird imitation of Alice in Wonderland or Narnia and there was no way I was going through there. Every time the main character in each of those stories went through a doorway that wasn't supposed to exist, strange shit happened. I wanted no part in it. I was more than happy to curl back up in bed and die from The Sickness.

"Come on, Tally," Cecil said while trying to pry my fingers from the door jam. "Don't be difficult."

"No. No, no, no. No. Ah!"

He gave up trying to pry my fingers and instead went after my tickle spot. I didn't let go and tried not to laugh. This wasn't fair, him using what he knew against me to get me through the door. I didn't want to go. What was the big deal?

The tickling got to be too much and I let go of the doorway, reverting to the closed up beetle position. Cecil quickly ushered me through the door, my bare feet sliding easily across the hardwood floor.

"Ce! You cheated!"

I twisted out of his grip and tried to head back towards the door but stopped. My surprise stopped me in my tracks as I found myself staring at the two glass double doors of the Abernathy Ballroom at the Country Club.

"Ohkay...this is...different and so not possible."

"It's just a projection. We're not really here."