"You can't be serious," Victor said, looking at me incredulously. "A beauty pageant? You?"

"Hey, I'm pretty!"

He laughed. "That's not what I meant! You're just so... thoughtful, and serious. I can't imagine in you participating in something that's only skin deep."

I shrugged, taking another bite of my rice. "I was ten years old," I told him. "It was my parents' idea, not mine. Shit, I didn't care one way or another."

Victor grinned. "Now, that sounds like the Anita I know."

On Wednesday night, two days after I had spilled my secrets to Marie, Victor and I were at his apartment with Chinese takeout. It was a calm evening in, just what I needed right now. All the stress from school, therapy, and the whole parallel universe mess was really taking a toll on me.

It struck me how different Victor was from his parallel universe self. I wondered if the other Victor had been like my Victor a year ago, before their world devolved into chaos. Furthermore, I wondered if other Anita had been more like me. The more time that passed, the more questions I had about the other world and what had happened to it. I wondered if my curiosity was a good sign, indication that I was actually interested in something for once. Some small part of me was starting to want to cross over.

I recalled Jefferson telling me that every time I crossed over, I was bringing back a tiny bit of that universe with me. He hadn't specified how that piece might manifest, but considering nothing in that world was particularly good, (to say the least), I wasn't too interested in finding out.

At 9:00 PM, I said goodbye to Victor with a quick kiss. The evening air had a slight bite to it, whistling in between buildings. I enjoyed the breeze after all the hot, humid weather we had been having lately.

As I was walking past an open door, I heard music coming up the stairs. I paused, listening to the delicate tones of a piano. There was something enchanting about it, like no piano melody I had heard before. I took a tentative step towards the darkened entrance and saw a flight of stairs leading down to a basement, illuminated by a dim yellow light.

I normally didn't trespass, especially considering I didn't even know whose building this was, but the music drew me in. I made my way down the staircase, keeping my eyes on the uneven floorboards under my feet. At the bottom of the staircase was a narrow hallway, stretching in either direction and lined with grey stone.

I followed the musical notes as if in a dream, noticing the lights got dimmer the farther in I went. I finally rounded a corner into a wide room with low ceilings, lit by dozens of candles. An upright piano stood across the far wall, and a man sat at it with his back to me, coaxing a haunting melody from tarnished keys.

I padded across the carpeting as if in a trance, watching him play in awe. He was slender, with dark brown skin and close-cropped hair. He wore a patched-up suit that had clearly seen better days, but it didn't stop him from looking formal and elegant.

He looked up at me and smiled. "Anita," he addressed me.

That snapped me out of my daze. "You know me?"

He stopped playing, cocking his head to the side and staring me down. "Of course I do. You tried to recruit me to join your cause four months ago, remember?"

It took a moment for me to fully understand what he was saying. He hadn't met me, but General Parsons, and the "cause" he referred to was the underground military operation. I had crossed over without even noticing.

"Oh, uh, and remind me why you didn't join?"

He remained silent for a long moment, his dark brown eyes seeming to pierce straight through me. I shifted my feet, mentally calculating how long it would take me to get back up the stairs and out onto the street. "It's okay, Anita, I know you're not the general," he said finally.

I felt like all the air rushed out of my body. "You do?" My voice was hushed, barely a whisper.

"You're the other one, aren't you?" It was phrased like a question, but he said it like a fact.

He slid over on the piano bench and patted the empty spot beside him. "Please, Anita, take a seat." I did so, and he began playing again, a slower and more soothing melody than before, speaking to me over the soft music.

"My name is Evan Ortega. I believe you met my friend Delta last week?"

"Oh, I guess so," I replied, shifting uncomfortably on the hard bench.

"Please relax," Evan told me. "You're safe here, don't worry. That hallway you came through is filled with traps that will stop even the nastiest of the creatures up there."

I breathed a sigh of relief, not even having noticed how on-edge I was. "Who are you? What is this place?" I had so many questions, I wasn't sure where to start.

Evan smiled again, his mouth turning up at the corner every so slightly and his eyes narrowing in amusement. It was the kind of smile I wanted to take a picture of and save for later. "I don't exist in your world, but I've been there," he told me. "I have the ability to cross over, just like you. The difference is that, in your world, you were experimented on without your knowledge; I volunteered for the program."

"Wait, there are people here who can cross over too? How many?"

Evan's face turned serious, his eyes fixated on his fingers as they danced across the keys. "It's just me now. The rest were... They're dead," he said in a hushed tone. "Delta is the only other one still alive, but she lost her ability."

"Lost it? How?" If there was a way to get rid of it, I needed to know.

He shot me a stern look, his eyes gleaming like knives in the candlelight. "You don't want to use her methods, Anita. She may have gotten rid of them, but she lost a piece of herself in the process and she hasn't been the same since."

"Why haven't you gotten rid of them?" I asked.

He contemplated my question for a moment. "Because I don't want to. Maybe it means the government views me as a threat, but I need to know what's going on in your world, to keep an eye on you."

"Why?"

He exhaled, almost imperceptibly, his fingers still drifting across the piano keys. "Anita, our universes have become inextricably entwined, from the first moment signals from our universe crossed into yours. Things from our world are crossing into yours, and soon, vice versa. We need to stay connected, to find a solution together."

I was watching his face as he spoke, his eyes following his hands across the instrument. "So why does the government view you as a threat?"

"Haven't you had the lecture yet?" he addressed me. "Don't you know how your travels are weakening the barrier between worlds? The people here, they think that all of our problems will be solved if we stop traveling, if we stop weakening that barrier. But we're just a scapegoat, someone to pin all the blame on. The problems here go far beyond a single science experiment."

I was faintly aware of his arm brushing against mine every time he reached for a key on my side of the piano. He spoke like he chose his words carefully, deciding what I should know and what would have the biggest impact on me. I couldn't tell if I felt uneasy or drawn to him.

He stopped playing abruptly and stood up, reaching for my hand. I gave it to him, allowing myself to be pulled off the bench and across the room. "I need to show you something," he told me as we walked. "It's going to seem harmless, but it is an indication of worse things that may happen in the future."

Evan led me out into the hallway, back the way we came, and I was startled to see that the hallway looked different than when I had first walked through. The walls were no longer clean stone, but looked worn, filthy, and cracked. Most of the lights were burnt out, leaving the long hall illuminated by only three remaining light bulbs. Strings, wires, and pulleys were twisted together in a curious contraption running along the ceiling.

"What's that?" I asked, pointing to the mechanism.

"It's a trap, in case I'm ever followed down here by one of the -- well, I'm sure you've seen them."

We reached the top of the stairs and out onto the street. I had to keep my eyes on the sidewalk to avoid tripping, as it was dotted with plaster and litter. Evan led me over to a car, the front of which was crumpled into a lightpost on the sidewalk. He stopped and looked at me expectantly.

"Okay?" I said, confused. "It's a car."

"It's a Honda," Evan corrected me.

I shrugged. "So?"

"So... Honda doesn't exist in this universe, Anita."

I frowned, looking closer at the logo on the car's bumper. "Looks like it does to me."

"Anita, you're not understanding me." Evan's voice took on a loud and exasperated tone. "This car came from your world. Things are starting to bleed through from your side to ours, and I'm sure it goes the other way as well."

I caught my breath, feeling that familiar panic rise in the back of my throat again. "God."

"Yeah." Evan leaned against the car, less than a foot away from me. "Soon, it won't just be harmless Civics. It will be dead bodies and dangerous creatures and bombs and natural disasters and... God, I don't know, politicians."

"That is bad," I replied solemnly. "What do we do?"

Evan shrugged. "The only people who would know are at the top," he told me. "The people who did this to our city, who put chemicals in our bodies. Maybe the people on your side will have a better idea, but we're working on this side to get information as well."

"Who's we?" I asked.

Evan stared at me for a moment, mulling over his options. "You don't need to know that right now," he said. "Just focus on getting more information. Come look for me next time you end up over here."

"Wait! How am I supposed to find you?"

"Go home, Anita," he replied, without answering my question, before turning and walking away.

I watched him retreat into the shadows, anxious about what the future might hold but comforted by the knowledge that I would see him again.