Beyond
Snillotia Trilogy Book One
Donna Wagner
Fiore Press
Copyright © 2016 Donna Wagner
All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
For Tori,
whose love of reading, inspired.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
PROLOGUE
PART I:
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
PART II:
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
PART III:
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
PART IV:
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
CHAPTER FIFTY
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
Epilogue
About The Author
Betrayed
PROLOGUE
As stories go, this one begins like any other. Once upon a time, there was a happy family, until suddenly tragedy struck, leaving a child parentless and totally alone in the world. And like most stories, of course, the child this one is about is no ordinary child.
Although he is seemingly no different than anyone else on the outside, as the saying goes, it’s what’s on the inside that counts. So, what started as a tragedy has led us to this moment- the moment when the child is about to embark on an adventure that will change his life forever.
PART I:
THE BEGINNING
CHAPTER ONE
Tim Tollins squeezed his knees as close to his chest as he could and held his breath. It was getting harder and harder to evade discovery. Each time he thought he was safe, they would appear, looking for him. He swore to himself they would never find him. The house was all he had left of his family and no one- not even Social Services was going to take him away, just to stick him in some crummy place where no one cared about him. This was the seventh time they’d come to the house looking for him. Lucky for him, they didn’t know about the secret door.
The door wasn’t really a secret. His parents had loved showing it to guests who came to visit. They’d loved the reaction everyone always had, when part of the seemingly solid wall swung open to a dark passageway, which led to a single room. That room was where Tim was now, hoping with every fiber of his being, that one of the Social Services men didn’t notice the light switch that opened the door, and use it, thinking it would turn on a light. Each time they had come looking for him, he had done the same thing- hide in the secret room. Each time he was able to let out a sigh of relief when they didn’t find him and finally left, giving up, but they always came back. He didn’t know why they assumed he’d still be there; he tried to make them think he ran away. He bought a bus ticket, hoping they’d find out about it and leave the house alone. Apparently, it hadn’t worked.
Tim strained to listen. It seemed like they had gone, or at least moved to another part of the house. He looked around the room. Empty potato chip bags, candy wrappers, and soda bottles littered the floor. An air mattress and some blankets were in the corner, with some other camping supplies that had been in the basement. The room had no windows, but it wasn’t stuffy. He wasn’t quite sure why, but it seemed that fresh air got in somehow. He’d figured it was the safest room to stay in. He could move about freely, without anyone seeing him through any windows, since again, there weren’t any. He only left the room when he absolutely had to and he never turned any lights on in the rest of the house. He didn’t know how long he could live like this- he was only 13 years old, which was why Social Services wanted to take him away, but he knew he had to stay. It was the same unknown reason why he hadn’t actually gotten on that bus. He had to stay with the house.
Tim heard footsteps, suddenly, running towards him. Panicking, he tried to make himself as small as possible in the corner of the room. He wondered what was going on and why they suddenly were coming back to the part of the house they’d already searched. He heard a loud click. The secret door was unlatched. Someone must have found the switch. Tim franticly looked around the room, wishing with all his might that there was some place to hide, but there wasn’t. He was trapped. He quickly grabbed a blanket, with fleeting hope that with it on top of him, they would think he wasn’t in the room and leave. They were almost to the end of the passageway. He could see the flashlight beams through the blanket. He squeezed his eyes shut and pushed himself closer to the wall, trying to make himself as small as he possibly could. The excited voices came closer. Suddenly, he felt nothing behind him and had the strange sensation that he was falling.
When the sensation stopped and he hadn’t landed anywhere, he slowly opened his eyes. He could still see the room, but he didn’t seem to be inside it any longer. It was as if he was behind the room, looking through the wall. He shook his head, since that seemed impossible, although he had no explanation as to what was going on. Three men entered the room
