The Land Beyond

Chapter 1

The Adventure Begins

This story starts with Amy and Conor, who were siblings in the Vesper family. They lived in a big, two-story house in downtown Manhattan. They had a normal life, going to school, studying, and playing with their friends. Amy was 14 and Conor was 11, a fact he always complained about. Their morning routine was rather monotonous and boring.

Their house was an impressive sight. The fence surrounding the building was more like a wall and decorative designs were carved into it. There was an opening covered by beautiful sliding doors that were the main entrance. A lawn lay across the front of the house, lots of shrubs and plants growing in it. There was a path cut in between the lawn that led to their front door. There were a couple of security cameras and in all the years they had lived there, not a single robbery had occurred. The siblings shared a room on the second floor and their parents’ room was right across. The door’s handles were beautifully carved brass.

They weren’t exactly rich, just richer than usual.

That changed soon.

Every month a strange new person would come to their house, disappear into the attic on the top floor and come back looking scared and rejected. Their parents wouldn’t give up, they just got another person to go into the attic, to come back with the same result. The kids wondered what these hired people did, but their parents wouldn’t speak of it. The people stayed in the guest room and then left.

Once, Conor thought he recognized one of the visitors. He searched up famous detectives and sure enough, a picture of a person looking exactly like the visitor was there. The next day, it disappeared.

                                                                                                                 

Conor was coming home from school. He walked because their home was so close. He was walking with Jay, his best friend, just chatting. They’d made plans to watch a new play in the theatre near his school. He’d heard that the play was nice.

As soon as school got over, Conor and Jay walked to the theatre and went in.

The theatre was a big rectangular building with nice beige walls. One side of it was a little curved. That was the stage. There were hundreds of rows of seats. The inside was cozy. The seats were comfortable, and velvet red curtains blocked the audience’s view of the stage when closed. There was a tall entrance that led to the main chamber.

The building was old and looked a bit like in medieval times. Conor loved how it looked and the way it seemed as if it were an old castle.

 

 

Conor had met Jayden Huxley when they’d moved to this town. Jay had been his first friend in this town and now he was his best. Jay had helped him adjust to the different styles of living in the town. Before moving, the entire Vesper family had lived in the outskirts, where the rules and lifestyle were different. Conor had never met Jay’s family because, for some reason, Jay had always wanted to go to Conor's house. Conor smirked. It was predictable.

 

                                                                                    

They walked in and sat down. The play started. It was pretty good. Conor usually didn’t like plays, they were too old-fashioned, but this one was nice.

Conor turned to ask Jay something about the play when he saw the glint of metal out of the corner of his eye. He turned around and saw a boy whose head was covered with a hoodie. The boy followed a young girl in a long flowing dress with a knife in hand and they both slipped into a room.

 

Conor’s head swirled. Was he seeing things?

He turned again to see Jay staring in the same direction.

“What’re you looking at?” he asked

“You didn’t see the b-boy with the-the knife?” Conor stammered

“Knife?” Jay questioned, laughing nervously, “Seriously? You’re seeing things. I think you’re tired. You should go home and rest. I’ll fill you in on what happens next.”

“No, no I’m fine,” Conor said

 

                                                                                                                 

Everything looked fine. He crept towards the locked door with his enchanted glowing wand out. He’d put on a glamour, so it looked like a regular pocketknife. He wasn’t the best at glamours. It looked more like a real knife but that just couldn’t be helped. He was just about to tap on the door when he saw a girl look at him. He followed her. She looked suspicious, like a Vaultian.

He walked quietly behind her. It wasn’t part of his mission, but just imagine the glory he would get if he killed a Vaultian. She turned into a room. All of his senses screamed, “It’s a trap!!” but he still followed her. When she turned into the room, he saw her get out a gun.

He laughed, “You’re going to try to kill me with that-that Akriteral weapon?”

The girl smiled sweetly at him, “You aren’t the only one who knows how to use the Glamour,”

His eyes widened as the glamour faded away, revealing a sleek black machine with 4 golden arms pointed toward him. He tried to run but the arms shot out and grabbed his limbs. They were small claws. Immediately, a hot, searing pain shot up his ankles and wrists, where the arms had touched him. Vaultian gold. It was like venom for darklanders. The last thing he saw was a boy standing in the doorway, mouth hanging open when the girl kicked him to dust.

                                                                                                                 

Conor followed the boy and girl. When he saw the boy get killed, the girl looked up at him.

“I’m not crazy, I’m not crazy”, Conor muttered to himself, “This was just a rehearsal for a scene in the play. Nothing happened. The boy will come back.” But he didn’t believe it.

 

“You can see me?” the girl demanded

“Of-of course. W-why wouldn’t I be a-able to?”

“Because you’re an Akriteral. You shouldn’t be able to see me.” She shook her head, “Just go back to your life. Forget this ever happened,”

Conor turned and walked out, trying to forget what he saw. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the girl frown as if she wasn’t used to this type of behavior. Once out, he saw Jay.

“Where were you? I've been looking everywhere.” Then he noticed how Conor looked, “What happened? You look like you saw a ghost.”

“That’s because I sort of did. Some girl killed a boy with a gun and called me a-a Akriter or something.”

Jay’s smile faded, he looked worried.

“What?” Conor said

“Nothing” Jay answered, “Just go home and take some rest. You’re seeing things.” He said still looking worried and just walked out.

“But-Jay!” Conor sighed and walked out of the theatre. So much for having fun. He got home and sat down on his bed. Amy walked into their room.

“You’re early,” She said and promptly plopped down on her bed, “What happened?”

“I was just watching the new play with Jay; you know we had plans.”

Amy glanced at her watch, “I thought it would end later,”

“I-I watched it for some time and-and it was boring” Conor lied unconvincingly.

“Ok…” she said, not believing him. She knew he loved action, “Well, I’ll just ask my friends about it. I’m going to ask mom if I can go out.” She got up and went out of the room. Conor followed her.

She stopped out of their parents' room and was about to knock when they heard hushed voices inside. They peeped in through the door and listened intently.

“We can’t find it,” said their mom. Their father replied “But we have to, we need to! I’m sure someone will.” Conor tripped while kneeling and their parents looked at the slightly ajar door. Amy glared at Conor, “Sorry” he murmured uncomfortably.

 

Their parents came out and their mom said “Well? Explain yourselves” Amy uncomfortably told their parents how they wanted to know why their parents hired mysterious people to go into the attic, and what they found there that the people came back scared.

 

Their parents were hesitant, but they told the children about this matter.