The Guardian of Threshold by A. A. Volts Read Free Book Online Page A

It must have been her natural scent, which could transform my reality in the simple blink of an eye.
    ***
    After I finished showering, I took another look at the clock, which read 5:44 p.m. I was already late and still undecided about what to wear. Pressed for time, I grabbed the first unwrinkled shirt I saw and my new jeans.
    I still wasn’t sure if I should wear my white or navy blue winter jacket… in the end I opted for the blue one, which seemed less conspicuous. After all, I didn’t want to make it too obvious that I liked her.
    After putting on some of my dad’s cologne, I set my sights for the stairs while avoiding the photographs in the Sorrows Hallway.
    I made my way downstairs and found my dad pacing back and forth as he talked to Phil, his partner at work. Much to my dismay, he put Phil on hold and came over to talk to me.
    “Hey! Where are you going so fast?” he asked as he took off his Bluetooth headset and held it in his giant hands, which only made his hands look bigger and the headset even smaller.
    “Oh, hi, Dad, I gotta run, I’m late for dinner with the… guys.”
    “I see. Any girls at this dinner?” he asked, although he knew Carla would be there. After all, the three of us had been going out every Friday for the past couple of years. We grew up together, and being neighbors made us inseparable.
    “Yes, she will be there, and no, I will not ask her out, Dad,” I said as I heard Phil’s voice through the tiny wireless headset in my dad’s hand asking, “Miles? Are you still there?”
    “I’m running late, Dad, but I won’t be home too late, I promise,” I said, pointing at the headset in his hands. He froze for a second as if he had something else to tell me, but I didn’t give him the chance. I closed the door and left.
    ***
    “Hey!” someone said from behind me. I turned around, surprised to see Jonas standing there. I guess I was still jumpy from earlier.
    “Are you ready?” said Jonas, sporting his normal contented and careless look. I quickly recovered from the scare he gave me.
    “Sure,” I said as we both started to walk toward La Luna’s. Thankfully, it wasn’t very far from where we lived. Although the rain had stopped, the cold seemed to have intensified.
    “You’re late, and now we’re late,” said Jonas as we walked briskly uphill toward Main Street.
    “Sorry, I fell asleep,” I said reluctantly, unsure if I should tell him what had just happened to me. I didn’t want him thinking that I was going crazy.
    “What happened? Did you fall off the bed and hit your head? Because if that’s the reason, I’m sure that’s normal, at least for you,” said Jonas, unable to contain his laughter.
    “Very funny. Seriously though, I had this terrible nightmare. It was… surreal. I think…” I paused, “I think… I died.” I finally finished. Having just realized the implications of what I’d said. I had to get more information. There had to be someone in town who could help me.
    “You obviously didn’t die,” said Jonas.
    As we got to the corner of Main Street, I turned right while he tried to turn left to go toward the restaurant.
    “Where are you going? La Luna is this way,” he said as he quickly turned around and started to follow me in the opposite direction.
    “Mark? Where are you— I mean where are we going?” asked Jonas, as I paid no attention to him. I was caught up in my own thoughts.
    “Mark Anthony!” said Jonas.
    “Yes?”
    “Where the hell are we going?”
    “I need to stop by the library on the way, there’s something I have to do there,” I said, only paying the necessary attention to be considered sociable as I gazed into the distance, trying to sort out my options.
    What Jonas didn’t know was that a window of hope had opened up for me when I uttered the words “I died.” He couldn’t have known the implications of that, or the possibilities I’d just envisioned. He couldn’t have known that it meant I could see my