A Deal With God

Chapter 4: The Multiple Uses of an Axe

Following the incident with the wall, Will's mother had returned with several men. Will recognised his older brother's voice but didn't know the others. Quinn watched their blurry shapes go around the house, she watched one in particular gently talk with Will's mom. They were here to deliver news: a body had turned up in the reservoir at the old quarry. Will's body.

After having to reassure Will that he was in fact still in his body, still alive, Quinn told him the bare minimum about the Lab. She assumed that the Lab was behind this development. Her disappearance in this place was probably a relief for them, but a civilian boy getting lost in this place? That was definitely more news coverage than they would want in the area. They'd want to wrap this up as quickly as possible. That meant sending Will through the portal at the Lab was now completely out of the question.

"Is that why you hope no one's looking for you?" Will asked her in a quiet tone.

"Yes, but people are still going to search for you," she replied. He looked at her, doubt written across his face. She tilted her chin towards the blur she knew was his mother seated on the couch, the figure that had been talking to her kneeling in front of her.

"Your Mom isn't buying it, you know," Quinn said, glancing back at him quickly. "She's going to continue trying to find you, no matter what everybody else says."

When the figures left and it was only Will's mom and brother — Joyce and Jonathon she learned — in the house, Quinn went out to survey the area. Her frustration with the situation was only increasing. She thought the openings were limited to the trees but the incident with the wall cancelled out any pattern she thought she was beginning to see. After their handshake in the kitchen, the older girl had meticulously combed over every surface of the house, both inside and out, looking for a potential opening to the other side. There wasn't even a trace of where the creature had crossed through.

Do they know that they're crossing through to somewhere different? Are they doing it on purpose? She pondered. Perhaps she should spend more time observing them than just killing them whenever she crosses them outside.

When she returned to the house, she found Will tucked away in the kitchen cabinet with the door open. He was singing softly to himself, 'Should I stay or should I go now? If I go there will be trouble. And if I stay it will be double'. He hadn't heard her come in but she made a point of coming straight in so that he wouldn't be surprised from the side again.

"Quinn?" Will asked timidly as he pulled himself out of the cabinet. She went to stand in front of the kitchen sink to look out through the window.

"Hmm?" She hummed in response, not taking her eyes away from the tree line at the end of the backyard. She had taken to her new name almost immediately, a fact that seemed to give the boy a certain comfort.

"What if we made our own way through?" Will asked coming to stand next to her. She quirked an eyebrow at him. He turned to look at the axe she'd propped up against the wall close to the hallway. The blade was covered in a dark substance that contrasted with the metal and the wood of the handle, the sheen of the splattered stain giving the impression that whatever it was, it was still wet, probably fresh. Will assumed she encountered at least one creature during her outing. He looked back up at her, watching her sharp gold eyes mimic his movements.

"Axes aren't just for killing monsters with," he told her, noting the smug little smirk that tugged at her lip. "They're for chopping through wood too." She seemed to like this idea.

They agreed to wait for Will's Mom to be home before attempting to go through the wall. Quinn went out to do a perimeter of the area, knowing that the sound of the axe chopping into the wood paneling would undoubtedly attract attention. In case this worked, they needed sufficient time to get through. When she returned again, Joyce was in the living room, surrounded by a speaker system loudly playing the song Will liked to sing softly when Quinn wasn't around.