Rushed by Brian Harmon Page B

think it’s where those things in the barn came from.” 
    Eric stared at him, trying to wrap his head around the very idea of this simple-talking old man explaining rents between alternate realities to him. 
    “Don’t think I don’t know how it sounds.” 
    “Sounds crazy.”
    “Yeah.  But you’ve already seen it for yourself, haven’t you?”
    “I guess I have.”
    “When you cross into the cold spots, into the fissure, you’re actually in some kind of gray zone between the two worlds.  It’s like a border realm.  Things can move back and forth there.  You’ll see some scary things there, let me warn you.  And if you go too far into those areas, you could find yourself all the way out in the other world.  And that’s not somewhere you ever want to be.”
    Eric nodded.  It sounded like good advice. 
    “You’ll want to stick to the path or you’ll never get where you’re going.”
    “And where exactly is it I’m supposed to be going?”
    “To the cathedral.”
    The cathedral.  That’s what Annette said, too.
    “That’s where the singularity is.”
    “The singularity?” 
    “The exact point where the two worlds meet.  The rest of this stuff is just what bleeds through the crack that runs out from that point.”
    “And if I find this cathedral?  Then what?  What am I supposed to do there?”
    “Hell if I know.  I’m just here to keep the path open for you.” 
    “And if I refuse to do it?  If I just turn around and walk back home?”
    Grant looked surprised, as if he’d never once considered the possibility that anyone wouldn’t want to do these things.  “Then he’d win.” 
    “The foggy guy.”
    “Yeah.  Him.  Course, he might win anyway, with you running so late.”
    “And what happens if he wins?”
    “I couldn’t tell you.  But I’m sure it’d be bad.”  And the look on his face suggested that he did, indeed believe it would be quite bad. 
    “Right.”  Eric took his cell phone from his pocket and checked to see if he had a signal yet.  He didn’t. 
    “That’ll come back a little farther up the path.”
    “I haven’t decided to do this.  I don’t know how much of this nonsense I even believe.”
    Grant shrugged.  “You believed enough to come here in the first place.”
    “I believed I was having a stupid recurring nightmare that was making me feel crazy.”
    “But it wasn’t just a nightmare, was it?  You’ve already found that much out without my help.” 
    That was true, but he still had no intention of taking on another wardrobe monster. 
    “Besides, the barn doesn’t always work so good going the other way.  It might not spit you back out in Annette’s field.”
    “I had no intention of going back in there with those things.”  But as Eric turned, he realized that the cornfield was gone.  The area behind the barn was now densely wooded.  In fact, now that he was looking, he realized that the barn from which he’d emerged was not the same one he’d entered.  This barn was much smaller and not nearly as old and rundown.  “Wait…” 
    Grant laughed.  “ Weird , right?”
    “Where’s the other barn?”
    “Annette’s place is about fifty miles southeast of here.”
    “Fifty miles?”
    “Give or take.” 
    “But…  My car…”
    “It’ll be fine.” 
    Eric stared at the barn, trying to wrap his head around the idea of having traveled fifty miles by merely walking through a barn. 
    Two barns?
    “But I meant what I said.  I really wouldn’t recommend trying to go back through the way you came.  I’m not sure where people end up, but sometimes they never come back.  They might even end up in that other world.  If so, I don’t envy them.”
    “So you’re saying I can’t actually go back?”
    Grant stuffed his hands deep into his pockets and glanced away.  “Well, you can .  Technically speaking.  I mean…  You could call for a ride.  I could show you the way to the highway.  You just can’t