so close, yet so far // jancy

Chapter 7

Nancy glanced at her window, expecting Jonathan any minute. She had packed a bag with some water bottles, two flashlights, and a lighter just in case for any reason. She was a tad nervous going into an abandoned lab looking for a gate to another dimension, but she refused to let him go by himself.

Jonathan pulled into the driveway, with his headlights turned off. Nancy locked her bedroom door, and snuck out the window. She jumped from the roof, and swiftly ran to his car. She climbed in the car and threw her bag in the back

"Ready?", he asked

"Ready."

"Nancy, you don't have to..."

"Just shut up and drive! I'm going with you."

He forced a smile. "Okay, if you're absolutely sure."

"I'm sure", she deadpanned.

He said no more, and they rode to the lab in silence. Jonathan parked the car on a dirt road out of sight, and they walked to the 10 foot tall gate with the bat and gun in hand.

"Shit", Nancy mumbled. "I didn't bring any bolt cutters."

"Neither did I."

Nancy turned to look at him, standing with the bat over his shoulder.

"Did you bring anything else?"

He shook his head. "Only this beauty." He swung the bat down.

"We're going to have to climb the fence."

"What? You serious, Nance? It's really high!"

She playfully shoved him. "Quit being such a baby." Nancy threw her bag over and gun over. She took a deep breath before swiftly climbing the fence, and then jumping from the top.  She landed squatting, but she fell over from the impact. She jumped up, and brushed herself off.

"You coming?"

Jonathan stared at the gate, intimidated by it.

"Yeah. Watch out I'm going to throw the bat over."

Nancy moved a few feet out of the way, and he launched it over; it landed close to Nancy, making her slide away.

"Here goes nothing."

He climbed the top of the fence, but then he perched at the top, realizing how far of a drop it was.

"Come on, Jonathan!"

He clumsily jumped down, landing standing up. He winced in pain and rolled to the ground, rubbing his legs.

"Are you alright? You know you're not suppose to land standing straight up like that!"

He got up with Nancy's help.

"Well now I know."

He shook it off, and they walked to the front entrance of the lab. Nancy grabbed his arm, pulling him back.

"Yeah?"

"You don't think... that there are still... bodies in there, do you?"

He gulped, remembering Bob. His mom still wasn't over him.

"I'm not sure. I hope there isn't."

They walked to the front door, realizing that it was locked shut. Jonathan groaned, and Nancy walked around to the side. There was a huge glass pane wall.

"Get back."

"What..."

She grabbed a huge rock, and threw it at the glass. It shattered into a million pieces, leaving them a place to go into.

"Jesus, Nancy! Was that necessary?"

She pointed to the opening.

"We can get through now. But be careful of the glass pieces."

They cautiously walked through the opening. Once inside the lab, they peered around it. It looked the same as it had a year ago. Thankfully, they saw no bodies, at least not yet.

"The gate entrance would be underground right?", Jonathan asked.

"I think so."

She took her backpack off, and grabbed out the flashlights.

"Here, catch. You might want it."

He caught it, and they headed over to the stairs. They climbed down 8 levels, before they reached the bottom. Nothing strange had occurred yet. Nancy turned around, looking both directions.

"Which way now?", she asked.

Jonathan didn't answer, so she spun around. He wasn't there. Nancy started to panic.

"Jonathan! Jonathan!"

She had been looking towards the left, so she figured he must have gone towards the right. She ran down the hall, and straight back.

"Jonathan, where are you?!"

She finally stopped dead in her tracks. The gate was straight across from her, and Jonathan was walking towards it.

"Jonathan get back! You're too close!"

He didn't say anything or even turn his head; he just kept walking to it.

"Jonathan! Please, get away from it!"

She ran over and tried to pull him back, but he was literally glued in the position he was. She tried again, but a force threw her back, slamming her against the wall. She felt herself slowly fading away; her vision became blurred and dark. But in the slight visibility she had, she saw Jonathan walking into the gate.

"Jonathan...", she whispered before her vision blackened.