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otherworlders picked it up in front of them.
    Storey.
    "Eric?"
    Eric gave himself a mental shake. He was being an idiot. Storey was his assignment. Any way that made it work, made it right.
    "Sorry, I was distracted by something else."
    "Yeah, duh."
    "I meant it. I'll go with you. We can try to open the door from this side. If that doesn't work, then I don't know what else to try. It worked last time though," he added helpfully.
    "Right. I might have another way in. I'm just not sure."
    Eric frowned, all his senses on high alert. "How?" His voice sharpened as he realized what she implied. The only other method to enter that tunnel was through a portal.
    "There are other entrances. Most old mines have abandoned shafts."
    "Hence all those warning signs saying danger. Remember those?"
    Her voice deepened, slowed. And she should have. Talk about focus. "You know, I'm not so sure I do."
    Great. Now she had selective vision too. "Well, they were there."
    "No need to snap at me." She sniffed.
    He grinned into the phone. She was starting to grow on him. That defiant streak of hers baffled him. He couldn't help but be intrigued.
    "I'm going to try again."
    "Try what? The door? Not tonight?" He tried to sound horrified. From what he'd observed, most people on this side of the veil avoided going out in the darkness. His side was the opposite. The sun shone hotly so much of the time that many people preferred to go about in the dark. The geography of both sides was the same, with one sun and one moon, an atmosphere necessary for life and various animals and plant life dotting the countryside. The two peoples resembled each other physically. There the similarities appeared to end.
    Storey's people appeared to be less developed. They relied heavily on what they called technology. They appeared to choose their futures by the type of work they liked or the type of work that found them. Giving away their power instead of corralling it and fine-tuning it. He didn't know if they had the same abilities of his kind. Maybe they had died off over the years. In his world, everyone had some special skill, which developed throughout childhood. Once an adult, they were already in their field. They knew what they were meant to do because they'd already been doing it.
    He didn't get it.
    These people had so much to give. So much more they could do.
    Yet, they did nothing. They watched an object called TV all day or played games on another box called a computer or a video game. His world had similar machines, but not for games. Never for games.
    "Hello? Are you there?"
    Sheesh. "Sorry."
    "Look, you called me. Not the other way around. I'm going. You can come or not come. I don't care. I'm going to bed now. See you tomorrow."
    "Wait."
    She was gone. Damn it. He stared down at the phone in his hand, something else these people appeared to be permanently attached to. Now what had she said? He'd missed part of it. Something about going back and he could come or not. So, she wasn't planning on going anywhere tonight?
    He understood only so much of the weird innuendos and body language of these people.
    Was she going back tonight?

CHAPTER FIVE
    S torey woke energized the next morning. It was Saturday. She planned on going to the mine. By way of her floor – as soon as she figured it out. As much as she'd told Eric he could come, she wasn't planning on telling him about her private entrance.
    She grabbed up her favorite pencil and sketchbook. Opening to the right page, she laid it down on the floor. As it hit, something caught her eye. Her heart sped up and she crouched down for a better look. The door in her picture had unlocked itself. She might just be able to get through.
    First she had to get dressed. She didn't want to end up in some strange place dressed in nightclothes. After donning jeans, t-shirt and sneakers and brushing her hair, she stood on her bed and considered if she'd forgotten anything. Her backpack was still packed with water and a